Arnold did the basics. He didn’t have a lot of choices when he was winning Mr. Olympia titles in the ’70s. Gyms were mostly equipped with barbells, dumbbells, and the most rudimentary machines. And that’s what he built the world’s greatest physique with. What follows are Arnold Schwarzenegger’s favorite exercise for each bodypart, his explanation for why he likes each so much, and our analysis of his choices.
CHEST
BARBELL BENCH PRESS
“If I had to choose only one chest exercise, I’d go with the bench press. It built the foundation for me, and helped me gain strength that I carried to other exercises, like ones for triceps and shoulders. Obviously, you want to work all areas of the chest—upper with inclines, lower with declines, outer and inner with flyes of various kinds, dips for more of the lower—but you can build a good chest with only bench presses. Serge Nubret used to do only bench presses for chest, and he had a fantastic chest.”
Analysis: It’s hard to argue with this one. In fact, despite all the modern machines we have today, chest is one bodypart in which the bodybuilding’s standards have changed little over the last 50 years. The pecs Arnold built with free-weight basics a half-century ago would still be amongst the best in the world today.
BACK
BARBELL ROW
“Back is a really complex area, so I don’t think you can build a good back with any one exercise. You’re going to need to do chins and pulldowns and cable rows and things. But my favorite back exercise is the barbell row. The barbell row is like the bench press for your back. It’s a basic exercise that you can get strong in and use some heavy weights and really build thickness in the lats. I always did barbell rows with more of a flat back—back parallel to the floor—and I often stood on a flat bench so I could get a full stretch on every rep.”
Analysis: Not many bodybuilders do barbell rows the way Arnold did them anymore. Things changed with Dorian Yates and his more upright style of rowing. A flat-back barbell row is in some crucial ways a different exercise from the modern 45-degree barbell row. Give it a try. It certainly worked for Arnold, who had one of the best backs of his era.
SHOULDERS
ARNOLD PRESS
“For shoulders you need to do an overhead press. I did these with a barbell to the front and behind-the-neck. But I recommend dumbbells. Let me explain the Arnold press. The Arnold press is a dumbbell shoulder press that begins with your elbows pointed forward but close to your body, and your palms are facing backwards. Then as you press the dumbbells up overhead you bring your elbows back and rotate your wrists so your palms are facing forward at the top, like a regular dumbbell shoulder press. I found this way expanded the range of motion and involved more of the deltoids, not just the front deltoid but also the side and rear deltoids. If you want Arnold-like shoulders, give the Arnold press a try.”
Analysis: We’re not sold that the extra elbow movement and wrist-twisting does much if anything to enhance dumbbell shoulder press. But as with the straight-back row it’s a variance that you should try. Again, it worked for Arnold, who had excellent delts. However, he also did other types of free-weight shoulder presses.
QUADS
SQUAT
“For quads, we didn’t have many machine options. Gold’s Gym [in Venice, California] had a leg extension, a vertical leg press, and a squat rack. So I did a lot of squats. Back squats and front squats. We’d sometimes do 10 or more sets, sometimes 20 sets, of just squats. I think you could build a great set of legs with just squats.”
Analysis: Other Mr. Olympias, such as six-time winner Dorian Yates and seven-time winner Phil Heath, built monster truck wheels without squatting. Meanwhile, Arnold Schwarzenegger did a lot of squatting, as he said, but thighs remained a weakness for him throughout his career. You have a lot of leg machine options in today’s modern gyms, including all sorts of squats. Do what works best for you and your body structure. Remember: You don’t have to do free-weight squats to be a hardcore bodybuilder.
HAMSTRINGS
LYING LEG CURL
“For hamstrings, it was just lying leg curls. That’s really the exercise that built my hamstrings. Lots of sets of lying leg curls.”
Analysis: We like the lying leg curl, but we like the seated leg curl even more, as studies have proven it’s more effective at growing the hamstrings. Arnold didn’t have options. If you do, take advantage of them, and do seated and lying leg curls, as well as stiff-leg deadlifts. But if you have to choose just one hamstring exercise: Take a seat.
CALVES
STANDING CALF RAISES
“For calves, I think you need to do standing and seated calf raises to work the gastrocnemius and the soleus. But it was standing calf raises that built my calves, lots of sets of them. For a long time in the early ‘70s I trained calves every day. Every day I worked out—six days a week—I did something like 10 or 12 sets of standing calf raises, heavy for 10-15 reps per set. That work, all those sets of standing calf raises are what built my calves up.”
Analysis: We have no quibbles here, because a recent study demonstrated that the standing calf raise (or any straight-leg calf raise) is superior for growing lower leg muscle than the seated (bent-leg) calf raise.
ABS
ROMAN CHAIR SIT-UP
“If I only did one exercise for abs it would be the Roman chair sit-up. Zabo [Koszewski] used to do 1000 of these every day, and he had the best abs of anybody.”
Analysis: We’re not a fan of this exercise, unless you make it a crunch and not a full-range sit-up. According to research, the vertical leg raise is the best abdominal exercise, so that would be our choice, if limited to just one.
BICEPS
BARBELL CURL
“The barbell curl is the best biceps exercise. I did dumbbell curls, I did preacher curls, I did all kinds of curls, but the best is the standard barbell curl, either with a straight bar or an EZ-curl bar.”
Analysis: There are curls that rank slightly higher than the barbell curl in EMG studies, but the barbell curl ranks high enough and has the advantage of allowing you to pack on the most weight for progressive resistance. It would probably be our “one-exercise-only” pick too. Again, it certainly worked for Arnold, who had two of history’s best biceps, and it’s worked for generations of bodybuilders.
TRICEPS
OVERHEAD TRICEPS EXTENSION
“The French press [overhead triceps extension] is tops for the triceps. It gives you that full stretch on every rep.”
Analysis: This is an excellent exercise for hitting the long (inside) head of your triceps. It also corresponds with resent research about working muscles through a full-stretch position to maximize growth. Be sure to get a full stretch and contraction on each rep.
FOREARMS
BARBELL WRIST CURL
“Barbell wrist curls are tops for forearms. Like calves, I used to train forearms a lot, because like calves they can take a lot of work. I’d do wrist curls every other day to really grow my forearms.”
Analysis: Not much to add here. This is the best exercise for working the meaty forearm flexors. We’ll just reiterate Arnold’s point that forearms can take a lot of work, and you’re probably under-training them.
