by Matt Weik, BS, CSCS, CPT, CSN
To this day, Arnold Schwarzenegger still stands as bodybuilding’s most authoritative voice. When he speaks, everyone listens.
With seven Mr. Olympia titles and as the founder of bodybuilding’s premier fitness festival, which is now successful across four continents, Schwarzenegger has established himself as an industry icon.
While his training books and articles have gained widespread popularity around the globe, his nutritional approach remains less recognized. And no, I’m not talking about him saying he doesn’t drink milk because “men drink beer.”
(If you’ve never watched Pumping Iron, you’re absolutely missing out on a classic)
Schwarzenegger’s nutritional wisdom provides enduring value for competitors, those seeking definition, and muscle-building enthusiasts alike.
The following collection presents bodybuilding tips from The Austrian Oak himself that remain as applicable today as they were nearly four decades ago when he developed his world-renowned physique.
Let’s dive into them!
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to treat or diagnose any condition. It is recommended that you speak with your doctor before starting any exercise program, making changes to your nutrition plan, or adding any new supplements into your current regimen.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Bodybuilding Tips
Below are some of the best bodybuilding tips by The Austrian Oak:
1. Focus on supersets
Arnold Schwarzenegger has become perhaps more closely linked with supersets than any other training technique in bodybuilding.
Newcomers to fitness might not be familiar with supersets, which involve performing multiple exercises consecutively without resting between them. While supersets typically target similar muscle groups, Schwarzenegger described a different approach in his book, The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding.
According to Schwarzenegger, “Supersets two different body parts, such as chest and back or biceps and triceps, allows one muscle group to rest while you are working the other, allowing you to exercise on a continual basis, which is great for cardiovascular conditioning.”
2. Lifting requires brainwork
Arnold understood the importance of the mind in bodybuilding and often wrote about how the brain influences muscle growth. He trained with complete focus, pushing himself to higher levels of intensity.
As he put it, “The first step is to truly believe that getting bigger is possible. Just as you can push yourself to lift heavy weights when it seems impossible, you can also train your mind to encourage muscle growth.”
One of Arnold’s key techniques was visualization. He would picture his biceps as massive, mountain-like peaks, using that mental image to push his physique to incredible heights.
3. Don’t skip dumbbell pullovers
The dumbbell pullover, a beloved exercise from bodybuilding’s golden era, effectively engages both chest and back muscles simultaneously. In an article, Schwarzenegger revealed how this particular exercise served as his secret weapon for developing his impressive upper body.
According to Schwarzenegger, some authorities disagreed, but he firmly believed that doing pullovers for a number of years increased the size of his rib cage and kicked him toward that 57-inch mark. It also works the pecs, particularly the outer and lower areas, and gives the lats and serratus a bit of a workout.
4. Choose the right exercise
Arnold didn’t just train hard; he trained smart. “To get big, you have to get strong. Beginners and intermediate lifters should focus more on growth than refinement,” he advised.
Instead of isolating muscles with single-joint exercises, he prioritized compound movements like the bench press, squat, deadlift, overhead press, bent-over row, and power clean. These exercises engage multiple muscle groups at once, making them harder to master but far more effective for building strength.
Training heavy with these movements, Arnold believed, was the most important factor in gaining muscle size and power.
5. Heavy weights for low reps
For Arnold, selecting appropriate exercises was essential, but equally important was determining the correct weight.
Indeed, performing 8 repetitions of squats with 365 pounds until failure generates a significantly more effective muscle-building stimulus than completing 40 repetitions with 135 pounds until failure.
While Arnold focused on feeling the resistance during exercises, he considered it crucial that the selected weight corresponded to muscle failure within a specific repetition range.
Arnold explained to make a point of never doing less than 6 repetitions per set with most movements and nothing higher than 12. The rule applies to most body parts, including calves.
6. Get enough rest
Arnold often emphasized the importance of rest days in achieving fitness goals. He explained that muscle growth doesn’t happen in the gym. In fact, training actually breaks muscles down. It’s during the rest of the day that they rebuild and grow stronger.
He viewed sleep and relaxation as essential parts of the process, referring to them as “growing time.”
According to longtime bodybuilding journalist Greg Merritt, Arnold believed that proper rest was just as crucial to bodybuilding success as intense training.
7. Posing is crucial
Posing, while fundamental to competitive bodybuilding, served additional purposes in Schwarzenegger’s training philosophy. His dedicated off-season posing practice reportedly enhanced his muscular definition, providing an edge over rivals like Columbu and Ferrigno.
Incorporating extensive posing during heavy training days, particularly side chest and most muscular poses, proves highly effective for developing pectoral striations. This technique was considered superior to the dehydration methods employed by many competitors seeking similar muscular definitions.
