Superset Man: Chest and Back Program from Arnold Schwarzenegger

Contents

At the start… attention… superset!
Training program
Superset № 1 +
Superset № 2 +
Superset № 3 +
Superset № 4 +
Completion
Hitch Isometric reduction
- Chest / Back
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Arnold’s philosophy of pumping and spinning can be summed up in the pairing principle. And it worked.

Author: Sean Perin

Behind his public successes (and failures), loud speeches and campaigns, fame and wealth, it is very easy to lose sight of the fact that, at his core, Arnold Schwarzenegger is primarily a person obsessed with bodybuilding.

Long before he became famous, and long before his battles with the state legislature, five-time Mr. Universe and seven-time Mr. Olympia spent a huge amount of time in small gyms around the world, pushing, squeezing and moving iron. The goal of his efforts was to become the best bodybuilder in the world. And in 1960-70. he achieved this goal by winning one competition after another.

During his school years, Arnold devoted himself completely to his studies. Later, he worked with the same zeal in the gym, and many years later – on the set and in the governor’s chair. Equally important, he did not know fear in training (another well-known quality of Schwarzenegger). While his gym buddies were conservative in the bodybuilding world for decades, Arnold was always looking for ways to increase intensity.

In the early to mid-60s, at the dawn of his professional career, the future champion trained according to the usual program compiled for him by more experienced gym comrades in Austria (his first gym). It was a basic and thoughtful enough program, but not so effective as to turn a provincial Austrian guy into a world-class star. As the student’s achievements began to surpass the results of his mentors, Arnold began to realize that without finding new ways to increase the intensity of training, he risked ending his career as soon as the holder of the title “Mr. Europe”.

Arnold reads Muscle Builder magazine (now Muscle & Fitness) looking for solutions to “shake up” his workouts and eventually comes across “” – a set of methodological techniques for increasing the intensity of training.

By the end of the 60s, he had developed his own formula, which consisted of six training days a week, two workouts a day, and included a number of Weider’s principles, incl. his favorite is.

At the start… attention… superset!

“One of the main explanations for the effectiveness of the chest-back program is that virtually all chest exercises are push and back exercises are traction. In pulls that load the lats, the chest rests, and vice versa – the lats rest in chest exercises. This alternation of rest and load ensures a constant blood flow to the muscles … When working on the chest and back at the same time, there is an incredible feeling of muscle growth and increase in their volume ”(Arnold Schwarzenegger).

The use of suppressors involves the grouping of two or more exercises, the performance of which is carried out without interruption. There are two types of supersets: when exercises are grouped on one part of the body and when exercises on different parts of the body are combined. Arnold liked both options. Especially often he used supersets to train the muscles of the chest.

“There are several advantages of alternating the load on the muscles of the chest and back,” – said Arnold more than once:

Saving time; the workout is much faster.
The ability to work with larger weights to gain mass and develop strength.
Effect and high-quality pumping of muscles (both chest and) for their complex load; the muscles are filled with blood for a longer time.
High muscle density due to work with extreme weights.

In his seminal work, The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, Arnold explains in detail the benefits of using chest-back supersets.

Training program

Few bodybuilders use the double split these days. It has been argued that a program with two workouts a day is too depleting for the body. Apparently, this technique did not harm Arnold at all. In the 70s, for most of the professional athletes who trained at Gold’s Gym in Venice, California, the double split was considered something of the order of the day.

Morning	Evening
1. Chest, back	Hips, calves, abs
2. Shoulders, arms	Caviar, press
3. Chest, back	Hips, calves, abs
4. Shoulders, arms	Caviar, press
5. Chest, back	Hips, calves, abs
6. Shoulders, arms	Caviar, press
7. Relaxation	Holidays

Arnold’s chest / back workout program consists of nine exercises: four for the chest and four for the back, plus a dumbbell pullover lying on a bench (a complex exercise that loads the lats and affects the pectoral muscles). In total, it includes 45 approaches. There are no breaks between approaches in the superset (you should rest one minute or a little more between supersets). At the end of the workout, it is necessary to perform an intensive exercise of those muscles on which the load was going.

The duration of the workout is approximately 45 minutes. During this time, the Austrian Oak was so exhausted that he could hardly breathe, and sweat poured from him like from a stream. They say that in the Gold’s Gym there was a special oxygen tank, with the help of which Arnold, together with his partners, recovered after such hard training.

Obviously, all these efforts were not in vain; when measuring the volume of Arnold’s chest, the tape measure stretched to an incredible 145 cm. His pectoral muscles looked impressive. His back is still considered a model in the bodybuilding world.

Perhaps using Arnold’s chest-back workout program will not turn the average gym goer into an epic hero. However, this hard, effective technique is bound to increase muscle mass in the upper part of your body.

Superset № 1
+

The first superset in the workout program begins with a warm-up 30-45 reps on a bench press with a weight of 60 kg, followed by 15 pull-ups. For the next five sets, Arnold alternated between the bench press and chin-ups, increasing pyramid weights on the bench and decreasing reps for both exercises. Typically, he followed the following pattern for these two exercises: 15, 15, 12, 8, and 6 reps. It should be noted that Arnold watched his breathing closely and tried to breathe deeply in this superset.

Superset № 2
+

After resting for two to three minutes before the next superset, Arnold continued training. The T-bar row was one of the champion’s favorite exercises. It thickens and widens the lats and gives them good stretch.

Again, Arnold performed this superset on a pyramid basis, starting at 15 reps and moving on to 12, 12, 10 and 10.

Superset № 3
+

Arnold was a great expert on the technique of performing the exercises. This was most evident in lying dumbbells.

The guys in the gyms, performing this exercise, lower the dumbbells, as a rule, to the level of the chest and bring them together at the top of the movement (before the impact). Arnold used a completely different technique – he tried to lower his elbows as low as possible so that the dumbbells were approximately at the level of the bench. In the positive phase, he brought his arms strictly in an arc, stopping the movement at the point at which the distance between the dumbbells was about 30 cm (when the tension in the pectoral muscles began to decrease).

In the bent-over barbell row, Arnold stood on a bench or high platform for maximum muscle stretch at the bottom point. His torso was almost parallel to the floor. All reps were done with perfect technique. No jerking; the whole load was on the back muscles.

In both exercises, Arnold did sets on the principle of a pyramid – 15, 12, 10, 10 and 10 repetitions.

Superset № 4
+

At this stage, Arnold was already starting to breathe quite intensively. Half an hour of double pumping on the pectoral and back muscles markedly expanded the upper body.

However, you cannot give up.

Arnold suspended a dumbbell weighing more than 35 kg from his belt and tried to perform 15 repetitions in each of five sets of push-ups.

In narrow grip pull-ups, he usually used a V-shaped handle, which he hooked onto the bar. Typically, he used a tight, pronated grip and did 12 reps on each of five sets.

Completion

Despite the fact that there is still debate about the effectiveness of this exercise in terms of chest expansion, Arnold had no doubts about this and performed pullovers throughout his professional career.

Whoever says anything, a pullover is a great exercise that not only works on the lats and hard-to-reach serratus muscles, but also stretches the pectoral muscles well.

As a rule, Arnold lay down across the bench so that the hips were as low as possible and the maximum stretching of the chest was provided.

“You will not believe what sensations this exercise causes in the chest area!” – said Arnold. “It literally rips open the ribcage and makes it grow.”

Despite the brutal fatigue, he squeezed out of himself, breathing deeply, five sets of 15-20 repetitions at full amplitude. Only after that did the training end.

Hitch
Isometric reduction

After completing a workout, Arnold always stretched and posed for a few minutes. He was of the opinion that after training, it is necessary to supply all muscles with oxygen-rich blood and believed that it was thanks to this technique that his muscles looked more pumped and prominent.

Finally, after 45 minutes of hard work and a few liters of spilled sweat, Arnold finished his morning workout. “Going to the shower, I felt tired, but satisfied – like a heavyweight boxer who spent 15 rounds in the ring with the champion and knocked him out a few seconds before the end of the fight!”