How did Arnold Schwarzenegger train in the 1970s?

Arnold Schwarzenegger is known to the general public today for his career as a Hollywood actor and politician. However, bodybuilding enthusiasts know that this Austrian-born man with such a rich destiny first distinguished himself in bodybuilding. He even revolutionized the practice of this sport for which he seemed to have no genetic potential. So, how did this extraordinary athlete train in the 70s?

An extraordinary and inspiring life

Arnold was born in 1947 in Austria, into a rather poor family. He tells us that his father didn't like him very much, finding him puny and ungainly, and not quite the virile young man he would have liked to have as a son. This lack of consideration led him to set strong goals that he would follow all his life: at a very young age, Arnold already knew that he wanted to leave, to succeed, and to get rich.

One of his first idols is Johnny WeissmullerThe famous swimmer, several times Olympic champion, also famous for having incarnated Tarzan in the cinema. Then, he discovers a passion for bodybuilding following a visit to a weight room. He then fell in admiration of Reg Park, this bodybuilding champion with an atypical background who became an actor and later made a fortune.

"America, I want to have it and I will have it"

After winning his first competitions in Europe as a bodybuilder, at the request of the impresario Joe Weider who was to become his mentor, Arnold crossed the Atlantic Ocean to try his luck in the United States. There, he won his main titles, as well as worldwide fame and recognition in the bodybuilding world.

But Arnold Schwarzenegger is not one to do things by halves. He is determined to succeed, and not only in the world of fitness. That's why, as soon as he arrived on American soil, he invested in real estate by buying his first building with the money he earned from his muscles. At the same time, he created a building and public works company, which quickly contributed to the rebuilding of Los Angeles after several earthquakes. As you can see, Arnold is able to diversify and undertake in several completely different fields.

Schwarzy's film career

Shortly before winning his first Mister Olympia title in 1970, he finally got his first role in a film"Hercules in New York". It was a silent role. His English is then approximate, and his Austrian accent is cut-throat. He knows that he only touches the world of cinema thanks to physical culture and his muscle mass. No matter, he took English and diction classes. He gave himself all the means to reach his goals. All this will end up paying off some time after his sporting retirement in 1975. He first got a few appearances in various feature films, then he got his first big role in the film "Conan the Barbarian", which was released in 1982.

This was only the beginning of public recognition for the young Austrian actor, who became a naturalized American in 1983, before the release of the film "Terminator" in 1984. This cult role propelled him definitively to the rank of star. He became Schwarzy, and then played a series of leading roles in action films: Predator, Total Recall, Running Man, Terminator 2... He also played in comedies ("Junior" in 1994), leaving his role of "Mr. Muscle".

Governator

Since his arrival on American soil. Arnold is close to the Republican Party by conviction. At the same time as his career in Hollywood, he was progressively invested with different functions by the administration of George Bush Senior. These new responsibilities gradually led him to leave his actor's costume behind and to defend various causes. Until he was elected Governor of California in 2003, under President G. W. Bush Jr. It is this term that will earn him a new nickname: "Governator". He was re-elected in 2006, and left office in 2011.

"Hasta la vista, Baby! "

Since then, Schwarzy has returned to his acting career. We could see him again in the "Expandables" trilogy, and the last opus of the "Terminator" series. Culturist, entrepreneur, businessman actor, politician... He needs all these hats to satisfy his thirst for success!

His success in bodybuilding

Let's refocus on his bodybuilding career

As a teenager, the young Austrian began to work on his muscles with the sole aim of succeeding. His parents did not necessarily approve of him spending his free time in gyms. This did not prevent him from gradually building up his muscles and getting closer to the "perfect body". As he built up his muscles, he acquired the nickname "Austrian Oak", which gave an idea of his muscular potential.

At the age of 19, he won his first title in 1966

It is Mister Europe. That same year, he fails to win the second place of Mr. Universe, behind Chester Yorton. This semi-failure on the world level leads him to modify his training, in order to better sculpt his body. He tries to gain in definition on some of the muscle groups.
The goal was achieved in 1967, when he won the amateur Mr. Universe title, and the following year the first European professional Mr. Universe title.

All about bodybuilding competitions

At this time Arnold shows impressive measurements during competition

• Height : 1m88
• Weight: 107 kilos
• Arm circumference: 55.9 cm
• Calf circumference: 50.8 cm
• Thigh circumference: 72.4 cm
• Waist size: 86.4 cm
• Chest size: 144.8 cm

Once in the United States, he finished second in the 1968 American Mr. Universe competition behind Frank Zane,, before taking his revenge the following year. Freshly crowned world champion, he tried his luck for the first time at Mr. Olympia in 1969. He finished 2nd behind Sergio Oliva. He then won the title for 6 consecutive years, from 1970 to 1975.

To see: the documentary film "Arnold the Magnificent" (Pumping Iron), directed by George Butler and Robert Fiore, traces the history of the 1975 title, following Arnold Schwarzenegger and his opponents from their preparation at the Gold's Gymin Venice Beach until the competition in South Africa.

In 1975, he announced his retirement from sport. But 5 years later, the training he did for the filming of "Conan the Barbarian" gave him a taste for competition. He prepared himself in only 2 months and won his 7th and last title of Mister Olympia in Sydney in 1980!

This was his last competition, but he did not give up bodybuilding for all that. He created his own competition, the Arnold Classic, and became editor-in-chief of several specialized magazines.

Mister Olympia target for Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold is one of the most famous bodybuilders in the world. Forty years after his last exploits, and despite his successful double reconversion, bodybuilders all over the world know that he is the one who revolutionized and professionalized the sport. Like Larry Scott before him, he popularized certain exercises. How did he train and eat at the height of his fame?

In the 1970s, weight training programs were different

Schwarzy wasn't just any athlete, and he did a lot more strength training than cardio (he hated that...). He worked out 6 days a week, with 2 workouts a day (you read that right, 2 big muscle development per day!). With this kind of training, needless to say that the warm-up was essential.

A typical week during the preparation phases consisted of alternating the same sessions 3 times: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays were devoted to strength exercises pectorals, back and legs; on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he focused on shoulders and arms. And of course, he also worked on abs, calves...

On a first session of one hour and a half, he could for example link: 4 big exercises of musculation of the shoulders (5 or 6 series of military bench press, side raises, bird-bust-penches, side raises with the pulleys). He continued with calf work. The calf machine didn't exist at the time, so he replaced it with pretty girls climbing on his back... Then he did the seated calves, 8 sets of 15, then 6 sets of 12 to 15 on one leg with dumbbells... Finally, he finished with half an hour of abs "on instinct".

On his second daily arm workout, he started with his biceps. He did sets of standing barbell curl, seated barbell curl, concentrated barbell curl, and 6 sets of 10. He did 6 sets of 10. Finally, he continued with 4 triceps exercises, before finishing with 3 exercises for the forearms.

In the gym, He was able to take on a considerable amount of physical activity, and make it profitable with his mind and He quotes:

"When I train, I make very specific choices depending on the body part involved. And whatever the precise technique chosen, I always call upon self-hypnosis. Let us say that my psychic implication is obvious. So it's about getting excited from the inside, thinking about the next result, thinking about a given muscle, the one you are training. And how it looks after the effort. Isolate that muscle, make it swell, make the blood flow into that muscle. And what's going to happen every time is that that muscle is going to respond and it's going to grow. " 

[Pumping Iron 2, 1980 documentary film]

You need a coach to establish a personalized follow-up that corresponds to your objectives?

Nutrition of a champion

While today's bodybuilders often eat 6 big meals a day, the Austrian Oak did it differently. He distributed 3 big meals during the day and he interspersed 2 to 3 snacks with food supplements. At the time, there was no weight gain off-season. On the contrary, Arnold could weigh up to 10-15 kilos less than his ideal weight. In the preparation phases, however, the diet was higher in calories than now.

To give you an idea of his diet, let's detail the menu!

His breakfast consisted of 3 to 4 eggs with 2 slices of toasted bacon and black American coffee. To this he added 3 slices of low glycemic index spread with almond butter. Finally, he completed the meal with a bowl of oatmeal with honey. Such a meal provided about 1000 calories. We also notice that at that time, the fat intake was more important than now.

Between meals, he took food supplements. The choice was less abundant than now. He would make shakers with lots of protein. Arnold used agmentin, which is a protein supplement... BCAA and creatine after training. He also took multi-vitamins in the morning.

His lunch was also about 1000 calories, with 150-300g of red meat (sources differ), 2 sweet potatoes, some vegetables and 80g of cashew nuts.

For the afternoon snack, he took a weight gainer with whole milk, to last until the evening meal. This consisted of 200 to 250 g of chicken, a portion of brown rice and vegetables. He completed the meal with a lawyer and olive oil. A little later, he had another snack: 1 jar of 500g of cottage cheese with 80g of cashew nuts. Then he finished the day with a protein shake at bedtime.

As we can see, nutritional habits were different from those of today, and there are some grey areas, particularly concerning the daily quantities of proteins.

A source of motivation for bodybuilders

His perseverance, his determination, his stubbornness to achieve his goals, all of this has allowed Arnold Schwarzenegger to become a living legend. He slept only 6 hours a night, explaining that he needed time to devote to his English and acting classes, as well as his real estate investments...

You can read this article: Why is muscle recovery more important than training?

His family never encouraged him, everything he achieved he owed only to himself. This self-made-man used bodybuilding and his natural charisma as a gateway to success and recognition.

He brought a lot to the bodybuilding, and the bodybuilding gave him back well, until becoming his new family.

We had quite a competitive spirit, as is often the case between brothers.

Total Recall. Autobiographical book - Paris, ed. Presses de la Cité, 2012. - 656 p (p 19)

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