Arnold Schwarzenegger, known as the “Austrian Oak” in body building circles, is world renowned for having achieved the Mr. Olympia title seven times in the contest’s history, with only one other competitor having won the title more times.

Achieve the Body Builder Look

To achieve his award winning physique, Arnold Schwarzenegger's workout routine employed many tried and true weight training principles that are still popular today. Under the guidance of legendary publisher and trainer Joe Weider, Arnold Schwarzenegger's workout incorporated high volume weight training in his workouts, typically performing eight to fifteen repetitions for four to six sets per exercise.

Why this Workout?

By utilizing the progressive resistance and overload principles, Arnold Schwarzenegger's workout routine was able to continually increase the load and stress that he placed on his muscles, which makes it a very effective weight-lifting exercise. Other Arnold Schwarzenegger workout routines such as forced reps, rest/pause, and pyramiding allowed Schwarzenegger to provide an element of variation to his work out program, allowing for varied stimulus on his muscles and minimizing the opportunity for stagnated growth or plateaus.

Stay the course

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s workout routines generally adhered to a five day per week workout cycle, which allowed him to adequately stress all of his muscle groups while allowing for the appropriate amount of recovery between workouts. Schwarzenegger’s workouts were structured around compound movements, exercises that involve several different muscle groups, such as bench presses, squats, rows and dead lifts.

By arranging his workouts according to related muscle groups, Arnold Schwarzenegger was able to take advantage of the shared stress that was placed on his muscles. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger's chest workouts would be performed on the same day as triceps workouts, as the triceps are involved in most every chest movement that involves pushing, like flat and incline bench presses and dips. This strategy was carried over into other body part combinations such as training back with biceps.

Get pumped!

Bodybuilders, strength athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike have long admired Arnold Schwarzenegger. While Schwarzenegger’s genetic capacity to develop great muscle size and symmetry is not typical among bodybuilders and athletes, by employing some of the above principles into a sound Arnold Schwarzenegger diet and workout plan, desirable results can be achieved by most anyone. It must be remembered, however, that Arnold Schwarzenegger's diet plan consisted of adequate ingestion of nutrients such as quality protein, which is vital to muscle growth and development.