Arnold Schwarzenegger Tips
Reprinted with permission from
Bodybuilding.com
The internet's largest and most complete bodybuilding supersite and cyberstore.
by Bodybuilder Derek Charlebois
I recently got my hands on an old Musclemag which was dedicated to Arnold Schwarzenegger. This issue was released in June of 1997. I am sure most people have not had the chance to read this magazine, so I will outline some I the main parts I liked. This magazine had an article for every body part written by Arnold. These articles included what Arnold liked to do and gave a few tips.
Shoulders
A good point that Arnold brings up is that your shoulders are seen from every angle. They are also part of every pose you do. Do not totally lockout on your deltoid presses. Locking out takes the tension off the delts and puts it on the triceps. Make sure there is some bend in your elbows at the top of the movement.
Keep your elbows wide, pulled back, and in line with your shoulders. This will isolate your shoulders and keep you from locking out.
Tilt your hand so that your pinky is higher than your thumb at the top of the movement. This increases the amount of tension on the side head. This allows you to work more of the deltoid. When doing lateral raises, keep a little bend in your elbow. This will allow you to use more weight.
If you do not feel the pump in the head you are trying to work, experiment with the exercise until you do.
Traps
When doing barbell shrugs, visualize trying to make your traps touch your ears.
Arms
Visualization is very important to bicep training. When doing curls, image your biceps enlarging and swelling to the point to where they appear to be mountain peaks.
Have confidence in your routine. IF you have negative thoughts or doubts about it, your arms will not grow to what they could be.
When doing curls, make sure your biceps are doing the work. It is very easy to use your legs, back, and delts to assist in curls. This involves using a weight you can handle and putting your ego aside.
ontrolled cheating. What Arnold would do with barbell curls is, pick a weight he could handle for 3 to 4 reps and do those reps with strict form. Then he would use some body movement to do another 3 to 4 reps.
The weight you have chosen is too heavy if you lose the feel in the muscle you are trying to work. So when doing controlled cheating, if you don't feel those last reps in your biceps, the weight is too heavy.
Here's something I thought to be very interesting:
"A basic rule of physiology says that the more a muscle is stretched and under tension at the beginning of a movement, the harder it can contract at the finish." When training triceps, it is important to choose a weight which allows you to isolate your triceps.
Make sure you have exercises which hit all 3 head of the triceps muscle.
Abs
Abs are the focal point of the body. When in a competition, the audience and judges' eyes go straight to the abs.
Ab training leads to better digestion of food and reduces constipation. It also improves your posture, reduces the risk of hernias, and prevents prolapsus.
Back
Your back needs both width and thickness. "Besides width and thickness, you need density, cuts, separation and muscularity."
The lats are the biggest muscle in the back. They are composed of an upper and lower section, and a thick middle.
You have to learn to let your back do the work. It is easy for your biceps or delts to takeover, or to use momentum to heave the weight.
Maintaining the mind-to-muscle connection is a must when training your back because you cannot see your back as you train it.
Use feel as your guide. You must find exercises which allow you to work your back and not other body parts. If your delts are getting pumped from an exercise, you need to reevaluate your form and the amount of weight you are using.
Legs
Before you can train legs properly, you must learn to love leg training. Legs are the most grueling body part to train.
Do not neglect your calves! Most bodybuilders do calves at the end of their leg routine when they are completely exhausted. Therefore, they do a couple light sets for calves and leave. If your calves are a weak point, use the priority principle and train them at the beginning of a workout.
YOU MUST DO SQUATS! Squats not only are excellent for your legs, they promote heavy breathing which helps to expand your rib cage, improves your endurance and overall strength. When doing squats, pick a weight you can do for 6-8 reps, then do 12. Most of the time, people pick a weight and do a few reps less than they really can do.
When doing leg extensions and leg curls, use pure leg power to complete your reps. It is very easy to swing the weight on these exercises.
Chest
During bench press movements, stopping the bar one or two inches from lockout keeps constant tension on the pecs.
Do not just push the bar up and down. Lower the bar to your pecs. Then push it up over your neck or face.
When doing flies, keep your elbows pulled back and in line with your shoulders. Remember, "Rome wasn't built in a day." These are some of the main points throughout the magazine. I highly recommend trying to find this magazine. Try some of these pointers out, and see how they feel. Continue to better your body and mind.
Later,
~Derek Charlebois~
This article has been reprinted with permission from:
Bodybuilding.com
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