Arnold Schwarzenegger Shares Bodyweight Workout of the Week for Building Muscle

‘The Austrian Oak’ shared an intense training session made up of self-limiting movements without the use of weights

Nikhil Sharma
By
Nikhil Sharma
Lifelong fitness & combat sports enthusiast and fan with a love for the community and everything related.
6 Min Read
Arnold Schwarzenegger Bodyweight Workout
Credit: Arnold Schwarzenegger (via Instagram)

Bodybuilding icon Arnold Schwarzenegger is still motivating fans today with workout advice. In a recent edition of The Pump Daily Newsletter, Schwarzenegger shared a challenging bodyweight workout and discussed the importance of resistance while training. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger is widely recognized as one of the most popular and successful bodybuilders of all time with seven Mr. Olympia titles to his name. He moved on from professional competition decades ago but never lost his passion for working out. His starring role in the 1977 bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron alongside Lou Ferrigno elevated his star power to new heights. Following a decorated career in bodybuilding, Schwarzenegger made his way to Hollywood.

Schwarzenegger found success as an actor by using the same discipline he developed as an athlete. He took part in several blockbuster films such as The Terminator (1984), Commando (1985), and The Predator (1987). He boasts a humongous following of more than 23.5 million on Instagram and 1.3 million on YouTube.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Biking And Posing
Arnold Schwarzenegger / Instagram

‘The Austrian Oak’ recently shared the benefits of incorporating the Brettzel stretch to soothe pain, increase mobility while still reducing the chance of injury. He recommended it as an effective full-body stretch along with a quick 2-minute muscle-building workout challenge.

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Former Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout touted Schwarzenegger as the greatest bodybuilder of all time earlier this month. Bannout credited his hard work for building a huge package without the use of many performance-enhancing drugs commonly used today, such as insulin, IGF-1, and growth hormone.

Schwarzenegger talked about the benefits of using caffeine as a pre-workout last week. He suggested a dose of 200-300 milligrams to get an added boost and detailed some effective ways to consume caffeine that won’t negatively affect sleep.

He highlighted the advantages of using meal replacement drinks to aid with weight loss as well. He laid out how he prepares these beverages with a recommended calorie cap and protein requirement. A few days later, Schwarzenegger stressed the importance of training intensity for optimal results. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger shares bodyweight workout of the week

In a recent edition of The Pump Daily newsletter, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared an intense bodyweight workout of the week for building muscle.

“Your body does NOT need weights to change; it requires resistance,” he wrote. “When machines, dumbbells, and barbells are not available (or unwanted), your body weight can be used to create an amazingly effective workout that builds muscle. As we previously shared, research suggests that intensity — not the amount of weight you use — drives muscle growth. In other words, you can use heavier or lighter weights as long as you push yourself near the point of failure.

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“To find the sweet spot with bodyweight exercises, try supersets, giant sets, and circuits to add more volume and use ‘self-limiting’ exercises. Self-limiting movements — like push-ups and inverted rows — reduce your injury risk because when you can no longer complete any reps, you simply stop moving (without the fear of a barbell crushing you).

“Here’s an example of a bodyweight, muscle-building workout that will prioritize intensity, focus on self-limiting exercises, and move at a pace where you will exhaust your muscle and force them to grow.”

How to do it: Perform this workout as a giant set, meaning you’ll do one exercise after another, resting as little as possible between exercises. After you complete all the movements, rest for 3 minutes, and then repeat another 2 to 4 times.

  • 1A. Inverted row: AMAP (“as many reps as possible,” until you can’t do them correctly)
  • 1B. Inverted row hold: 10 seconds (on your last rep of inverted rows, pull your chest to the bar, and squeeze your shoulder blades together, holding as long as possible)
  • 1C. Pushups: AMAP
  • 1D. Plank: 10 seconds (on your last rep of pushups, hold your body in the plank position, pushing down through your palms, creating tension in your arms, chest, and abs)
  • 1E. Alternating reverse lunges: 10-20 reps
  • 1F. Bodyweight squats: AMAP
  • 1G. Squat hold: 10 seconds (on your last rep of squats, lower your body and hold the bottom of the squat for 10 seconds
  • 1H. Glute-hamstring walkouts: 60 seconds

The last time fans heard from Arnold Schwarzenegger, he offered a grueling 9-min bodyweight workout that targeted the abs. He detailed the benefits of utilizing bodyweight training to boost cardio and lower body health.

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Lifelong fitness & combat sports enthusiast and fan with a love for the community and everything related.
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