Workout from Arnolds enciclopedia, thoughts?

Post by **ironmaiden708** » Sun May 04, 2008 7:29 pm

I added a preacher curl day to my routine.

Arn't you gonna have a neck extension day to balance out those bi's?

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Spl ... ckExt.html

pdellorto · Post by **pdellorto** » Sun May 04, 2008 7:39 pm

No joke, Ironmaiden, folks in my gym do those, although with a strap or towel to a hanging dumbbell. But we are all fighters, so these guys also train to be able to drop backwards into a bridge, do headstands, etc. Neck strength is important for fighters.

But it's worth saying these guys are already strong all over before they get into that extra...I'm like the only guy who can't do handstand pushups or bench his own bodyweight for 10 reps or more.

Post by **ironmaiden708** » Sun May 04, 2008 8:29 pm

No joke, Ironmaiden, folks in my gym do those, although with a strap or towel to a hanging dumbbell. But we are all fighters, so these guys also train to be able to drop backwards into a bridge, do headstands, etc. Neck strength is important for fighters.

That does make sense since it will aid in preventing injury, but for the avg. joe that would be complete nosense.

pdellorto · Post by **pdellorto** » Sun May 04, 2008 8:42 pm

ironmaiden708 wrote:
No joke, Ironmaiden, folks in my gym do those, although with a strap or towel to a hanging dumbbell. But we are all fighters, so these guys also train to be able to drop backwards into a bridge, do headstands, etc. Neck strength is important for fighters.
That does make sense since it will aid in preventing injury, but for the avg. joe that would be complete nosense.

Absolutely!

Stephen Johnson · Post by **Stephen Johnson** » Sun May 04, 2008 8:47 pm

Arnold's "beginner" routine is an example of why star athletes usually make lousy coaches. I got tired just looking at it.

knin · Post by **knin** » Sun May 04, 2008 11:19 pm

Thanks guys for the replys.
Workouts aren't as hard as they seem, it takes me 2 hours a day to do them and get me really pumped up. But like someone said, my muscles aren't getting the rest they are required to have and that's why I posted this, to see if i get the rest I needed since i go 6 days a week. I guess I could say i passed the beginners workout with three months of experience in the gym for 6 days a week. I do like challenging my body to a harder routines, I just don't know if this one is perfect. I'm wondering if I could exchange some workouts in between so muscles get the rest they are needed to recover.

Problem with legs was I did them for couple times, and I could NOT sit whole day because my butt was killing me

:lol:
And from that day i said no more hehe. I will be doing them again now, like someone says, I don't want to be a gorilla and have little tiny legs.

pdellorto · Post by **pdellorto** » Mon May 05, 2008 12:04 am

Two hours in the gym is a lot of time. The longest I take is close to 1 1/2 hours, and that's from "walk in the door and sign in" to "sign out" and that includes changing, warmups, post-workout stretching, and chatting with my coach and fellow fighters before and after. If you're lifting 6 days a week at 2 hours a session, that's 12 hours a week of lifting out of 168 hours. You could probably get as good or better results in 3 hours out of 168.

It's really hard to stay intense and work hard AND work long. It's basically "pick intensity or volume." It's better, especially if you're a beginner, to do a shorter, harder workout with good amounts of rest. That may be a good routine for a weight trainer who is shifting to a bodybuilding approach but not for a general lifter. The "Starting Strength" routine gets recommended a lot for beginners...you squat 3x a week plus do standing presses, bench presses, deadlifts, and power cleans. And you rest a lot! The Mahler routine (also in the basic routines sticky) is also centered on a few compound lifts, plus incorporates some intense cardio. I'd recommend either of those. I personally am doing a modified version of Westside for Skinny Bastards (also in the sticky) but my training age is pretty high and I don't think I could squat 3x a week...but I still squat - front squats, back squats, bodyweight squats, thrusters (a front squat with a push press)...I get down low with the bar and then get it back up.

I hear you on not being able to sit down. But you have to learn to love that. It'll go away soon, and then squats and heavy deadlifts will just be a way to maximize your strength gains. Even though my squat is relatively poor, I still work on it because every kilo I add to my squat is functional, useful strength I've added to my body. That's strength that helps me with every lift I do.

If I were you, I'd read up on all the routines in the basic routines sticky. Find one you like, change to that, and go from there. Work hard on a relatively short workout centered on the "big lifts" go from there. Arnold is awesome, but the workout from his book isn't. You've made gains on it but with a better program you'll get more.

Peter

Teddy · Post by **Teddy** » Mon May 05, 2008 4:03 am

I also try to stay in the gym for one and a half hour max. Everything more is - at least from my point of view - too much.

brook011 · Post by **brook011** » Mon May 05, 2008 4:55 am

usually 45 mins to 1 hr lifting and 15-30 minutes cardio myself, depends on the day and how early it is in the morning.

Casey Butt · Post by **Casey Butt** » Mon May 05, 2008 1:58 pm

knin, my instinct is to tell you to stay away from Arnold's routines because they're just too much work and don't produce results for anybody but the most genetically gifted.

On the other hand, your motivation is a big factor. If it fires you up to think you're using Asrnold's routine then all the better. But you should also be aware that Arnold did not follow any sort of elaborate, high-volume split when he was building up during his first few years as a beginner. If you dig up some old magazines from the sixties you might find what Arnold refered to as his "Golden Six" routine. Which was essentially,

Squats 4 x 10
Bench Press 3 x 10
Pull-Ups 3 x maximum
Seated Military Press 4 x 10
Standing Barbell Curls 3 x 10
Sit-Ups 3 x maximum

Arnold is said to have included additional exercises into this routine at times, but essentially this is the skeleton of the workout he used when he trained in Graz and also how he trained "clients" when he first moved to Munich. It seems overly simple, but it was also the type of routine that Arnold's idol, Reg Park, used to get big and strong. Bear in mind that if you get strong on Squats, Presses and Pull-Ups you will increase your muscle mass dramatically ...this is how Arnold and Park did it.

Check the following two links for a variation on that basic routine:

http://www.weightrainer.net/training/rules.html

http://www.weightrainer.net/training/beginners.html

Post by **Jungledoc** » Mon May 05, 2008 4:50 pm

knin: I'd change up the whole routine. This one is pretty unbalanced. Start marking your time as a beginner from the time you start squatting. Then in a few months start looking at the "intermediate" routines. The "beginning" routines mentioned here should really be called "basic;" even intermediate and advanced lifters build their routines around these lifts and their variants. If you do these for a few weeks, then you can start working out additions or variations.

A lot of the better people whose writing I've read claim that anything over 45 minutes of weight training per session becomes counter-productive. I haven't gotten my routine under about an hour and a quarter, but that includes warm-up and stretching and talking with my workout partner.

pdellorto · Post by **pdellorto** » Mon May 05, 2008 7:42 pm

Casey Butt wrote:Check the following two links for a variation on that basic routine:

http://www.weightrainer.net/training/rules.html

http://www.weightrainer.net/training/beginners.html

Those are pretty handy, thanks. I bookmarked them for reference.

Where did you get the calculation for protein and dextrose amounts? I asked about that a while back on the diet & nutrition board.