Back
1. CHIN-UPS—I have put chin-ups first because they are a hard exercise and you should do them in the beginning, when you’re strongest.
Start with regular chin-ups, doing them as you have been. Do some of the chin-ups into the back of the neck and others to the chin. Always make sure you get a variation of this exercise. I like to do a combination—one set to the front, one set to the back.
Your grip should be wide, much wider than your shoulders. Use a chinning bar with the ends bent down slightly, which gives you a different pull on your latissimus. It’s a better, more direct way of doing chin-ups than using a straight bar.
Do five sets of 10 to 12 repetitions. If you are light, have a lot of pulling power, and feel 12 repetitions are easy, put some extra weight around your waist. Tie a 10- or 20-pound plate to your training belt with a string.
When you finish each set of chin-ups, do some stretching exercises on the bar. Let’s say you’ve done 10 repetitions and couldn’t do another one: try two or three half-movements, just to pull the shoulder blades apart.
2. ROWING WITH BAR—Rowing with a bar gives you thickness in the back. Stand on a bench, take a grip wider than your shoulders, and let the bar down to your toes; remain in a bent-over position and pull the bar all the way up to your waist. Your knees don’t have to be locked; they can be a little loose for more support and flexibility. Do full movements. The reason for the wider grip is to make your elbows go as far back as possible. I’ve found that the more the elbows move back the better it is for building your center back, which is often neglected.
Do five sets of 10 reps, using as much weight as you can handle.
3. T-BAR ROWING—This is a new exercise which will add dramatic thickness to the outside of your lats. One end of the bar is connected to the floor, and on the other end is a short handle that will allow you to take a close grip and pull the weight up to your chest. You should stand on a block to prevent the weight from hitting the floor and keeping you from getting the maximum stretch. Because of your narrow grip and the way the machine is constructed, the plates will touch your chest sooner than the bar does in the wide-grip rowing, which prevents your elbows from moving back as far and allows the muscles in the outside of your back to develop.
Do five sets of 10 reps.
I’ve combined these three exercises for the back because chin-ups work on width, bent-over rowing with the bar develops the center and lower back, and T-bar rowing develops the outside of the back and the lower lats.
Stretching and Flexing
After your back work is completed you need to do a lot of stretching, a lot of flexing to avoid stiffness. Grasp a stationary bar and pull, bowing your back until you feel all the muscles widening and flattening. Vary your foot positions and your hand positions on the bar in order to reach every area of the back. Let yourself relax completely.
Right from the beginning, while you are developing your muscles, you should also be flexing them and working to gain control over them. Do a double biceps pose to control your back and check it in a mirror. Then try to flex each individual muscle in the back. Work on this until you have complete control over your muscles. The way to the top in competitive bodybuilding is not merely to have muscles but to be able to control your muscles and to show them. Remember that most of the points in a physique competition are achieved through posing.
Chest
1. BENCH PRESS—This is a growth-stimulating exercise I have used since I first began training. When you are at the stage you are now, it not only pumps the blood over the entire pectoral area but also increases your muscle depth.
Use a medium-wide grip, about 24 inches. Lower the bar until it touches your chest, approximately half an inch above the nipples, then ram it back to the starting position without the aid of a bounce—just use pure pectoral power. Inhale deeply as you lower the bar, and exhale as you push it up. Add weight each set. For example, on the first set I start out with a warm-up set of 12 to 15 reps. On the second set I will add weight and do 10 reps; on the third set, more weight and 8 reps; more weight and 6 reps on the fourth set; more weight and 4 to 6 reps on the fifth set.
Use so much weight you can barely make the final repetitions. Add 20 or 30 or 40 pounds each set. The reason for using increasing amounts of weight is to prepare the muscle for a greater beginning weight in your next workout. You want to build power, speed and size.
I suggest doing bench presses with stands where you can catch the barbell if it becomes necessary. Or have your training partner stand behind you to help you with the last few repetitions.
2. BARBELL INCLINE PRESS—The inclined press with a barbell builds the upper pectoral, concentrating on the area where that muscle ties into the front deltoid. Although the bench press reaches a little into the upper pectoral muscle, the inclined press attacks it directly. It gives that “armor-plated” look to the upper chest and helps fill in hollow spaces around the clavicle (collarbone).
Barbell incline press
Do the inclined press on a 45-degree inclined bench, with a stand to take the weight off the arms when they are in the locked position. Watch the bar with your eyes. The bar should end up two or three inches away from your chin—not on your chest.
Hold the bar slightly wider than your shoulders, using approximately the same grip as for the bench press. Lower it smoothly down and press it up again, tensing the pectoral muscles at the top. Inhale deeply as the weight is lowered, exhale as you push it overhead.
Do five sets of 8 repetitions. Again start with a lighter weight and work up. Obviously, because of the angle, you can’t use as much weight in an inclined press as in a bench press.
3. BENT-ARM FLYES—Never allow the position of the dumbbells to change while you are doing this exercise. Many people turn the dumbbells. That’s wrong. Keep them parallel at all times. Don’t lift them in a pressing movement or twist your wrists. This is a total waste of time because it affects the shoulder instead of the pecs.
Bent-arm flyes
I consider myself a master of flying motions. I rarely see anybody using the correct form. But people I’ve taught to do it the right way have developed incredibly huge pecs. One of them is Franco. I taught him the flying motion in Munich in 1966. Since then he’s been using 95 or 100 pounds in the strict style and he’s built incredible pectoral muscles.
Do five sets of 10 to 12 repetitions.
You won’t need to stretch after doing this exercise. The force of the weight going down pulls so much at the pectoral muscles in the rib cage that it is already a perfect combination of flexing and stretching.
4. PULL-OVER WITH DUMBBELL—This is the best possible movement for expanding the thorax and enlarging the rib cage. It also stretches the pectoral muscle and the latissimus, aids in developing the serratus muscles, pulls hard at your bone structure, and helps tone up the abdominals. It’s a fantastic exercise which can help increase your chest measurement considerably. I have found the pullovers more effective if you lie across a flat bench rather than positioning yourself lengthwise on it. I also get a far better stretch using a dumbbell than I do with a barbell.
Pull-over with dumbbell
Lie across an exercise bench as I am doing in the photograph. Flatten your hands against the inside plates at one end of the dumbbell and hold it at arm’s length over your chest. Only the upper back ought to be in contact with the bench. Keep your hips low throughout the exercise. Lower the dumbbell, while inhaling deeply, until it is in line with your head, then exhale as you return the weight to starting position. Inhale as deeply as possible—force all the air you can into your lungs—and keep your chest expanded—even after you exhale. In other words, keep the chest held high throughout the entire movement of this exercise.
Choose a weight that will permit you to do five sets of 15 repetitions.
Shoulders
I grouped the muscles for the Tuesday and Friday program in an unusual way, taking the back first. But this is logical. The
back is a big muscle area with a lot of square inches to develop, and it should get the most attention in the beginning, when you have the most energy. Second was the chest, which is a smaller muscle group. Third are the deltoids, even smaller than the chest. The reason I put the deltoids last is not that they’re unimportant. They’re beautiful and complex muscles. But they are much easier to pump and develop than either the back or the chest.
1. PRESS BEHIND NECK—This exercise is an old standby. It also happens to be one of my favorites for deltoid work. Placing a barbell behind my neck, I take a medium-wide grip and then press the weight overhead. The ideal way is to do it on a bench which has a board to support the back, and then to do full movements, letting the weight all the way down and pressing it all the way back up again. Keep the bar straight. Presses behind the neck should be done in front of a mirror so you can correct yourself. Press the bar evenly.
Do five sets of 10 to 12 reps.
2. LATERAL RAISES—Lateral raises work on the side deltoid muscle. I described this exercise before. But then you were doing the rear deltoids. Now you should concentrate on the side deltoid. You only need to turn the dumbbell slightly—just enough to keep it straight. Do this exercise in a slightly bent-over position so that there is no chance to cheat. With a dumbbell in each hand, raise the weights to shoulder height and then lower them slowly. The weight must start from a dead stop, so that there is little or no swing.
Do five sets of 8 repetitions.
3. LATERAL RAISES IN BENT-OVER POSITION—The bent-over lateral raises are strictly for the rear deltoids. In an advanced program you need to work toward developing every area of each muscle. The rear deltoid is usually neglected, but it can be reached when you are in a bent-over position.
Hold your upper body parallel to the floor with the weights together in front of your legs and lift the weights toward the outside. Your palms should be facing your body. Raise the dumbbells smoothly and evenly and as high as you can to really feel the effect in your rear deltoids.
As with presses behind the neck and lateral raises, choose a weight you can handle in perfect form and do five sets of 8 repetitions.
Wrist Curls
Concentrate on your forearms. Watch them. Try to remember how they were in the beginning. The progress you see should give you the incentive to add a couple of reps on your final set and really pump the blood in there.
Do five sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.
The Tuesday and Friday routine is a tough one. You have three major muscle groups to work on, and that’s the reason I’m not suggesting any waist or calf training. Those two days of the week you can just let the waist and calves rest.
WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY PROGRAM
Arms
Triceps
Biceps
On Wednesday and Saturday you will work on triceps, biceps, calves, waist and forearms.
In my own workouts for the upper arm, I always train the triceps first because the muscle has three heads and naturally requires the most work.
Triceps
1. TRICEPS PULL-DOWN ON MACHINE—The first triceps exercise is the triceps pull-down on the machine you usually use to do lat work. This exercise acts directly on the entire triceps, and it has numerous variations. Simply by changing the spacing of the hands or the angle of the body you can have a completely different exercise.
Use a bar that is bent down slightly on each side. Grip the bar with about five inches between your hands. Start with the bar right below your pectoral muscles. Then push it down until it touches your thighs. Nothing should move in this exercise except your forearms. Your pecs, your upper body, your legs and your upper arms should remain absolutely still. Force the bar all the way down with your forearms until you feel your triceps flex. You should flex the triceps on each repetition, and then let them stretch as the weight brings them up. The pulldown is an isolated exercise that builds the higher triceps near the rear deltoid area if you do it properly.
First try a warm-up set of 20 repetitions with very light weight. Then put on a heavier weight you can handle for three sets of 10 repetitions. Then add more weight and do two sets of 8 repetitions.
2. TRICEPS EXTENSION WITH DUMBBELL BEHIND NECK—The triceps extension with dumbbell behind the neck develops the entire tricep from the elbows to the shoulders. Take a light dumbbell, something you can handle for 10 repetitions, five sets, and lift the weight straight over your head, holding your upper arm against the side of your head, then let the weight slowly down behind your neck and press it up again. Only your forearm should move. The upper arm ought to remain against the side of your head and not move at all. A lot of guys turn this into a pressing movement. This is wrong. Watch yourself in a mirror. Every time your arm leaves your head you are making a mistake.
Triceps extension with dumbbell behind neck
Do five sets of 12 repetitions.
3. TRICEPS EXERCISE WITH DUMBBELLS—LYING DOWN— The third exercise for this muscle is almost like the barbell extension. You lie on a bench with two dumbbells held above your face, and let them down slowly as though you were hiding your face behind the dumbbells. Allow nothing to move except your forearms. Be extremely careful not to let the dumbbells down too fast, to avoid getting hit in the face. Then press them up again slowly. The reason for using dumbbells is to allow for different hand positions. Changing the hand position changes the effect on the triceps. Experiment as you work out. You’ll be able to tell the difference.
Triceps exercise with dumbbells—lying down
Do five sets of 8 to 10 repetitions.
Biceps
1. DUMBBELL CURL ON INCLINE BENCH—This was always one of my favorite exercises. It stretches the biceps and allows them to grow. In Austria, when I was doing the regular dumbbell curl sitting down, I felt my biceps didn’t get as much stretch as they needed. So I experimented with different positions by leaning back against the wall. I discovered that this allowed my arm to swing back farther and gave more stretch to the bicep. S-T-R-E-T-C-H is what is needed in the bicep. The longer the bicep is from the shoulder to the elbow, the more it can roll up and flex and get bigger.
The dumbbell curl on an inclined bench should be done at a 45-degree angle. Start with the backs of your hands forward and slowly turn them to the outside as you pass through the middle position. When you reach the top the backs of your hands should be toward the front again. Throughout this movement your upper arm should not change at all. Move only the forearm. If your upper arm does move, you are working your deltoid. Again, I want to stress the value of strict form. I have isolated my biceps so much that no other muscle ever gets anything out of my biceps work. Some guys say to me, “Arnold, you only use fifty-five pounds on the biceps curl—I use seventy.” And it’s true, they do use 70 pounds, but they have no arms. They’re just worried about getting the weight up there, about ego satisfaction, and not doing the movements correctly.
Remember to turn your wrist, stretch your biceps and flex them when you reach the top position.
Do five sets of 10 to 12 repetitions.
2. PREACHER BENCH CURL—The Preacher bench curl works to increase the length of the lower part of the biceps. Grip the barbell shoulder width and lay your upper arms against the bench. Let the forearm go down slowly, then curl it back up. The movement of the bar should be slow. Let it all the way down until you feel a stretch. Halfway movements rob you of the full benefit of this exercise. When you bring the barbell up don’t let the weight fall into your biceps. Flex the biceps. When you can’t do any more full reps, do half- or quarter-repetitions on the top to get the top of the bicep. These are called burns.
Do five sets of 8 repetitions—plus the burns.
3. CONCENTRATION CURL WITH DUMBBELL—I use the concentration curl last because it is an exercise for peaking out the bicep. If you do this exercise correctly, you ought to be able to add at least a half-inch to your biceps in a few months. I use 65 pounds for this exercise, and try to do it in a strict form. Assume the
position shown in the photograph, with your body bent over, one arm holding the dumbbell and the other arm braced against your knee to support your upper body. The dumbbell should be curled up to the front deltoid without moving the upper arm at all. Pull the weight slowly up to the shoulder area. It is very important not to hit the pectoral muscles with the dumbbell. This is not a rowing motion. The elbow and upper arm should never move at all. The only movement is with the forearm. You simply lift the dumbbell to the front deltoid. Almost everyone I explain the concentration curl to does it wrong. They attempt too much weight and end up doing rowing motions with one arm, or hitting their chest with the dumbbell and not doing a full movement. Remember: Choose a weight you can handle and bring it slowly up to the front deltoid. If you do this correctly, you will get a good peak to your biceps, a bulging look.
Do five sets of 10 repetitions.
Do some stretching movements to let the blood flow through your biceps. Put your arms on the outside of your thighs and stretch the biceps.
Also, it is important after biceps and triceps training to flex both muscles forcefully.
Calves
Standing Calf Raises
Sitting Calf Raises
Go through the same routine you did for the Monday-Thursday program. Do five sets of 15 repetitions for each exercise. In addition, do a few partial reps on the final sets.
Waist
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