Q: What’s your opinion of Arnold training six days a week? I read that he worked each muscle three times every seven days with 20 sets per body part at each workout. I know he used steroids, but that much training seems excessive. How could someone recover from that and grow?
A: I was lucky enough to work for John Balik, publisher of Iron Man magazine. He was and still is good friends with Arnold and even trained with him at one point. More on that in a moment (John is an excellent photographer and took the photo above in the ‘70s)…
I often quizzed him on Arnold’s training. What most people don’t understand is that Arnold trained that way only prior to a contest…
According to John, it was only through the summer leading up to the Olympia—usually July and August, then into September when the Olympia was held…
After the contest, he downshifted into his “recovery stage.” October through December he only trained when he felt like it.
And according to John, Arnold scaled back his food and enjoyed the things he didn’t eat during contest prep. Unlike a lot of competitive bodybuilders today, he never gained 20 or 30 pounds after his contest…
In fact, during that recovery period, he actually lost weight, usually 10 to 15 pounds. Remember he went off drugs immediately after the contest…
Arnold only used steroids for 12 to 15 weeks before the event; he was off the rest of the year—but back to his training…
When January hit, he went on a four-days-per-week split, training each muscle twice a week. He also used this time to try new things in the gym and specialize on any specific bodyparts he thought needed improvement…
He stayed on that four-days-per-week workout over January, February, and March.
He also gradually increased his food intake during this time, tightening up the “slack.” Again, no anabolics.
From April on, he began to ramp up his training until he was in full contest prep by July. Then it was back to the grind, training each muscle three days per week and hitting the gym six out of every seven days.
So the answer to your question, How could he possibly recover?, has a couple of layers…
1) He only used that extensive six-days-per-week workout for a few months
2) While he was on it, he was also on anabolic steroids (not nearly the amount or array they take today; however, as John noted, he had incredible receptors for the few drugs he used—he would transform almost immediately once he started)
3) He has amazing genetics
To expand on that last one, John, who also has fairly good bodybuilding genetics, said he tried to train with Arnold as he was ramping up into contest mode, but he quickly burned out. Even his genetics simply weren’t at Arnold’s level.
I doubt John was on anabolics, and he obviously didn’t have the pressure of a looming Olympia to drive him. The mind plays a big part.
Arnold was a different beast during contest prep. The real question is, Was that type of training necessary? What if he had the knowledge we have today—ideal exercises, recovery research, specialized supplements, etc. More on that in the next training newsletter.
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Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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