Arnold Schwarzenegger - Arnolds Bodybuilding for Men

ARNOLDS

BODYBUILDING FOR MEN

By Arnold Schwarzenegger

With Bill Dobbins

Also by Arnold Schwarzenegger

ARNOLD: EDUCATION OF A BODYBUILDER (with Douglas Kent Hall)

ARNOLDS BODYSHAPING FOR WOMEN (with Douglas Kent Hall)

Also by Bill Dobbins

GOLDS GYM WEIGHT TRAINING BOOK

Copyright 1981 by Arnold Schwarzenegger

All rights reserved

including the right of reproduction

in whole or in part in any form

First Simon & Schuster Edition, 1984

Published by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Simon & Schuster Building

Rockefeller Center

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

SIMON & SCHUSTER and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Designed by Martin Moskof & Assoc. Inc./Sharon Stein

Printed and bound by The Murray Printing Company

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Schwarzenegger, Arnold.

Arnolds Bodybuilding for men.

1. Bodybuilding. I. Dobbins, Bill, date, joint author.

II. Title. III. Title: Bodybuilding for men.

GV546.5. S38 646.7'5 80-28764

ISBN: 0-671-25613-0

ISBN: 0-671-53163-8 Pbk.

ISBN 13: 978-1-4391-2728-5 (ebook)

For my mother,

for Jim Lorimeran invaluable friend and professional associate who has been instrumental in making the country aware of the full value of weight resistance training,

and a special thanks to John Balik, Peter Brenner, Albert Busek, Caruso, Neal Nordlinger, Joe Weider, Art Zeller, and Roy Zurkowski for their generous assistance in making this book possible.

Didnt you used to be Arnold Schwarzenegger? asked my old friend. He was joking, of course, referring to the fact that, although I still train at World Gym in Santa Monica and try to stay in excellent shape, I am no longer a competitive bodybuilder. All of us in the gym laughed at this remark, but it made me pause for a moment and take stock.

My life has changed drastically since 1975 when I won my sixth Mr. Olympia title and retired from competition. Until then, training had completely dominated my life. It was my life. Four hours a day spent in mind-blowing sessions with the weights, everything from the way I ate and slept to my social life entirely geared to winning bodybuilding championships.

But that is now in the past. I have always thrived on challenges and, once it became too easy to win bodybuilding contests and victory had become predictable, I decided to look around for new worlds to conquer. So now I make my living as an actor, an author and a businessman. I buy and sell real estate, give lectures at universities, write books, hold seminars, promote the World Championships of Bodybuilding, work as a television commentator and appear on numerous radio and television talk shows. My activities demand that I travel tens of thousands of miles each yearto Europe, Australia, Africa, and virtually every corner of the globe. Yet, despite the fact that I have such a hectic schedule, a lot of people think that I, somehow, have access to more hours in the day than they do, and am able to find the time to stay in shape that is not available to them.

Its different for you, they will tell me. After all, you are a professional athlete, a bodybuilder. But Im a corporate executive, and I just dont have any time to devote to working out.

I do sympathizebut I dont agree. I remember how things were for me when my first book was published. I was faced with going on a month-long promotional tour while still having to spend every spare moment in my office taking care of other pressing business interests. Usually I had no time to get near a gym. And even when I did, there was so much going on in my mind that I had trouble concentrating. I would be trying to do a Bench Press and suddenly find myself thinking about closing a deal or some other business problem. The distractions had a way of becoming more important than the training.

So I had to learn and adapt. I developed new methods of training, and new attitudes toward my workouts so that I could stay fit and yet take care of business. And it is these methods and attitudes that form the basis of the program you will find in this book. If they work for me, I am certain that they will work for you as well.

Let me give you an example of what I mean....

I had to go to New York on business recently, so I scheduled a 6 P.M. workout at the Mid-City Gym. But just as I started training, I received a call to come in for an emergency meeting to discuss an upcoming promotional tour.

The meeting was extended, and turned into dinner. By the time I got back to my hotel it was after 11 P.M. I had not had a workout all day, and it was lateso I could have just turned on the television, written a few letters or simply gone to bed. But I didnt. Acting on my own rule that I must do some kind of training every day, I decided to make up for my missed workout.

First I did ten minutes of stretching to loosen up every joint and muscle in my body. Then Leg Raises and Sit-ups for the abdomen, Push-ups for the chest and arms, Handstand Push-ups for the shoulders and some Knee Bends and Lunges for the legs. All of this took only 20 minutes, but I wasnt finished yet.

Cardiovascular trainingpumping blood through the circulatory system and air through the lungsis a very important part of my training. Usually I run to increase my aerobic conditioning, but it was late, and the streets were slippery with snow and ice. So, instead, I went out into the hall, found the service stairs, and quickly ran up ten flights and back down again. Believe me, this gives you a tremendous cardiovascular workout. I came back out of breath, feeling great, took a shower and slept like a baby.

Progressive resistance trainingworking with weightsstill forms the basis of my own workouts, and you will find a lot about training with weights in the following pages. But you will also find a lot about flexibility and cardiovascular training, because they are also necessary if you want to really be fit and healthy.

But I also hope to give you some idea of improvisation, the art of getting in a workout of some sort no matter how pressing the demands of time and no matter how far away you are from home and your regular exercise equipment.

In the best of all possible worlds, we would all have plenty of time and energy to devote to keeping fit. But that doesnt happen to be the world I live inand I dont think its yours, either. But take heart. Staying in shape no matter how busy you get is possible, and I can show you how this is accomplished.

Really.

Physical fitness involves the development of all of the bodys physical capabilities.