Arnold Schwarzenegger, from the very beginning, was a man who loved lifting heavy weights. The 76-year-old legend pushed himself in his early years to attain a muscular body and still looks like he could bench press a few. Fitness enthusiasts will be surprised with Schwarzenegger’s workout routine back in the day. However, he has prioritized efficient workouts over lifting the heaviest weights in recent times.
The Austrian Oak started his newsletter, Arnold’s Pump Club to help his followers work out the right way, and were also given opportunities to ask him fitness-related queries. It was not new to anyone that Arnold used to train with the legendary bodybuilder Frank Zane and lived with him to follow his practices.
In the recent edition of the newsletter, a village member asked Schwarzenegger a question based on the learnings he attained while living with Zane and whether he followed them. “What specifically did you learn from Frank about his diet and training that you applied to yourself?” As usual, Schwarzenegger never left his members waiting but was quick to respond and said
“I didn’t pick up much dieting advice because I’m bad at dieting. I added in a lot of the exercises I thought at the time were Mickey Mouse because I loved big movements, and then I just trained more than him”
Though Arnold Schwarzenegger was an ardent follower of Zane and followed his routine to an extent, Zane was on a different level. The greatest bodybuilder of all time used to work hard in his time and carve his body into what people still regard as the most aesthetically pleasing physique in bodybuilding history.
Frank Zane was always particular about his diet and what he consumed. He once said, “Don’t get out of shape in the off-season. If you do, you will lose a lot of time getting back there”. He used to hit the gym early and would train without distractions to focus on the quality of his routine and movements. However, it was difficult as he trained alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger at the world-famous Gold’s Gym.
Arnold, on the other hand, who used to train heavy and hard did not have much of a diet routine but focused on the pump. Now, the terminator has understood his body’s limitations and starts off with high reps of curling exercises to warm up his elbows, which are part of his body he feels is the most vulnerable while training.
“It’s not about working out with the heaviest weights; I’m just trying to move as fast as I can from one exercise to the next.”
Schwarzenegger believes a good pump is good for the mind. He has always advocated for creating a good muscle pump with the proper workout routine. Filling the target muscle with massive quantities of blood during a gut-busting workout is a special feeling. That being said, The Terminator recently on his newsletter shared some tips on how to maximize the pump while working out.
Arnold Schwarzenegger shares his tips on following the right fitness practices
Hollywood’s favorite action hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s meteoric rise to stardom is built on a lifetime of hard work, dedication to art, and commitment to the craft. In his recent edition, he addressed one of the questions on how to maximize the pump.
In response to his followers, he added that one of the biggest problems is not indulging in a full-range movement and that one should stretch and flex to the top.
“The first thing to do is make sure you’re doing a full range movement. Even people who have trained for years struggle with this and I walk around the gym correcting them. There is an epidemic of 3/4 reps.”
Arnold always takes into consideration that his fellow gym enthusiasts don’t fall prey to fitness fads or silly workout routines. He offers science-backed tips, whether maximizing the pump, diet, or heavy-weight routines.
