Arnold Schwarzenegger's tips for brute arms

The undisputed king of bodybuilding is probably the "Austrian Oak" Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has undoubtedly built one of the best bodies in the history of the sport.

In the 1970s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was so vastly superior to his competitors that he won the Mr. Olympia 7 times. An impressive number, even though there are still 2 bodybuilders who won the Mr. Olympia 8 times. Although Arnold had a very aesthetic body, one part of his body certainly stood out - his arms! Arnold's arm development is still (almost) unbeaten today. At his best he had an arm circumference of almost 58 cm. It was not only the mass of his arms that impressed, but also their unique shape. Many insiders agree that Arnold had the best arms of all time.... Which raises the question of Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training

But what were the secrets of Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training? Or were there any secrets at all?

Well, Arnold certainly has very good genetics, which not many athletes have. It is also rumored that Arnold always trained his arms the hardest. And very good genetics + hard training are unbeatable. It's clear that very few athletes have "arm genetics" like Arnold (except Alexei Lesukov), but that's no reason why we can't learn from him. Here are 10 tips for arm training and two examples of Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #1: Train your arms from every conceivable angle!

Arnold always believed that your arms had to be impressive in every pose. Therefore, they should be trained from all directions and angles. He once said: "You won't win a championship if you only do a few half-hearted exercises for your arms. You have to train your biceps, triceps and forearms equally hard, otherwise you will create a symmetry error"!

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #2: Keep things in perspective!

While Arnold recommends that you train all 3 arm muscles equally hard, one arm muscle deserves special attention to look impressive. And that's the triceps! To illustrate this, let's take a quick look at the anatomy of the biceps & triceps: the biceps have 2 (relatively short) heads, the triceps have 3 (relatively long) heads. He once said: "You can hide your biceps quite well in some poses, but hiding your triceps might be very difficult..."

As the triceps make up almost 2/3 of the upper arm muscles, well-toned triceps look more impressive as you look bulkier than if you only have well-toned biceps!

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #3: Be focused!

The ability to perform every set and repetition with absolute focus and not let anything distract you....- that's what Arnold was known for! He was known to be so focused on his training - a bomb could have gone off next door and he would have continued training with 100% focus. This focus can be explained by the movie "Pumping Iron", where he literally says that he didn't even go to his father's funeral because he had a competition coming up. Of course, you shouldn't & don't have to follow this extreme example, but it should be clear from this example that Arnold was not joking and took his training very, very seriously.

Arnold also said that when he trained biceps, for example, he imagined his biceps as enormous mountains that had to be shaped with inhuman weights. You need to discover and apply this focus for yourself!

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #4: Shock your muscles with variety!

Arnold always believed that the body was an extremely adaptable machine that needed to be constantly challenged. He constantly used new exercises, heavier weights, different sets or different repetitions - and the results speak for themselves. If you always use the same exercises or weights, your body will get used to the load and you won't make any new progress. Even if you train as intensely as possible, you will not progress if the exercises, sets and weights are always the same. Only by constantly challenging your body will you continue to progress. For this reason, change your training routine every 4-5 weeks. Even small changes can trigger new growth - the important thing is that you don't do the same thing day in, day out.....

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #5: Use forced repetitions

If you are training with a training partner, you can go and do forced repetitions. This means you do the set until you can't do any more and then your training partner helps you with further repetitions until absolute failure. In Arnold's day, (almost) everyone trained with a training partner and so you could always use this intensity technique.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #6: Use partial repetitions

It was also known that Arnold used partial repetitions to completely "eliminate" the muscle! You can use partial repetitions for barbell curls, for example. To do this, you first have to push the muscle with one set until you can do no more. Then you go and do only half a repetition; if that is no longer possible, do a quarter repetition and if that is no longer possible, move only a few centimetres - until the barbell has come to a complete stop in your hands and you are happy that you can put the weight down. You don't need a training partner for this intensity technique!

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #7: Use negative repetitions

Most strength athletes only focus on the positive part of the repetition when performing the exercise. For example, when you do barbell curls, the positive repetition is the "upward movement". The downward movement of the exercise is one that few people pay attention to, but when used correctly it can stimulate new growth. Arnold used this technique to challenge his muscles in a completely different way. The next time you perform barbell curls, consciously focus on the downward movement and you will notice that it will challenge your muscles in a completely new way. Negative repetitions also strengthen the ligaments and tendons better than normal repetitions, which can protect you from injury.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #8: Tip: Pay attention to perfect execution

In addition to all these tips, Arnold was of the opinion that muscles can only grow with perfectly executed technique. For example, he recommended that beginners lean their back against a wall when doing concentration curls to avoid using momentum. You have to learn to feel the target muscle properly while you train it. Once you have internalized the muscle-head connection, you will notice that you can work your muscles much more intensively than if you work with momentum or improper technique.

One more thing on the subject of concentration curls: Arnold was of the opinion that the hand grip is the be-all and end-all in this exercise. In his opinion, you should keep your wrist straight when doing concentration curls, as otherwise you would be using your forearms more than your biceps.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #9: Use supersets

Arnold often used supersets during his arm training. For example, he combined barbell curls followed by tricep presses. This agonist (the working muscle) / antagonist (the stretched muscle) training combination is a very effective way of pumping up your arms to the maximum and making them literally explode. Try this combination the next time you train your arms. You will find that you get a much better training stimulus than if you use normal sets. Your arms will fill up with blood to the maximum, which will result in above-average growth... Super sets also burn more calories, which helps to reduce body fat.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training tip #10: Pose between sets

Once you've finished a set, pose the muscle you've just trained. Posing will teach you a lot of muscle awareness, which will ultimately benefit your muscle control. Arnold always posed between sets, so he could concentrate much better on the muscle he was training and show off his muscles better.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training: Arnold's basic arm program:

Recommended exercises for the biceps

• 4 sets of dumbbell concentration curls(for a higher biceps peak)
• 4 sets of tight barbell curls (for the outer biceps)
• 3 sets of normal barbellcurls (for more mass)
• 3 sets ofhammercurls (for more mass)
• 3 sets of inclinebench curls (for more mass)
• 3 sets of dumbbellcurls (for more mass)

Recommended exercises for the triceps

• 3 sets ofclose barbell tricep presses (for more mass)
• 3 sets ofdips with additional weights (for more mass)
• 3 sets ofclose bench presses (for more mass)
• 4 sets of cable tricep presses (for the upper triceps)
• 4 sets of reverse cable tricep press es (for the upper triceps)
• 4 sets ofkickbacks (for the lower triceps)
• 4 sets oftricep presses with the dumbbell behind the neck (for the lower triceps)

Recommended exercises for the forearms

• 5 sets of wrist curls (for more mass)
• 5 sets ofreverse wr ist curls (for more mass)
• 5 sets ofhammer curls (for more mass)

Arnold recommended this program once a week for a natural athlete. For athletes working with steroids, he recommended this program twice a week. In his opinion, each muscle should be worked for 30 minutes

Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm training: Arnold's superset arm training

• 4 sets each of dumbbell curls in superset with lying barbell tricep presses
• 4 sets each of alternating dumbbell curls in superset with tricep presses on the rope
• 4 sets each of incline bench dumbbell curls in superset with triceppresses
• 4 sets each of concentration curls in superset with Dumbbell neck tricep presses
• Final exercise: 2 sets of close bench presses

Arnold used this superset program especially during competition preparation to set a new growth stimulus and burn more calories!