How to Train Like Arnold
Want to look like the insanely huge, cartoon-like, freaky big pro-bodybuilders in all the magazines?
Are you ready to Become "King of the Gym!?"
Think you can Back it Up?
IF you truly want to achieve maximum mass, size, strength, and power and start kicking massive ass FAST, we suggest following proven time-tested old school "5 x 5" style training methods and principles.
As a young teenager, Arnold was 6 feet tall with a wide frame but he weighed only 150 pounds. Yet, after just a few years following "5 x 5" training methods and principles he jumped to 225+ pounds of rock solid muscle from head to toe!
Bodybuilding fans, experts, and historians "in the know" attribute Arnold’s status today as bodybuilding’s greatest icon ever to hit the stage directly to the phenomenal muscle building foundation he built following and using the "5 x 5" training system in conjunction with his ferocious work ethic.
Most importantly, Arnold HIMSELF (in his auto-biography) credited his life-long mentor and friend Reg Park’s "5 x 5" system as being the spring-board that catapulted him to bodybuilding greatness.
The bottom line: "5 x 5" training methods and principles worked for Arnold, and "5 x 5" WILL work for you too!
Using "5 x5" training methods and principles you will be training heavy doing 5 sets x 5 reps of each of the "Big 5" Olympic Style compound movements as follows:
The "Big 5" Exercises: •#1.Deadlifts •#2. Squats •#3. Bench •#4. Military Press •#5. Rows
Following old school "5 x 5" style training methods and principles, you will be training on alternate days just 3 times Per Week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday; or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) for the next 12-16+ weeks…and you will be limiting your training sessions to 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes max.
Your first set poundage for each of the "Big 5" exercises will be 60% of your max weight on your fifth set at 5 reps (warmup), your second set poundage for each of the "Big 5" exercises will be 80% of your max weight on your fifth set at 5 reps (warmup), and then you will be adding 10-20 pounds per set on your third through fifth sets (depending on the exercise) to reach your max weight on your fifth set at 5 solid reps.
You must be making absolutely sure you’re hitting 5 solid reps in good form and in complete control of the weight on your fifth set to determine your true max. If you can’t hit 5 reps of a given weight on your fifth set on any exercise, then you will need to drop the weight down until you do find your true max weight for 5 solid reps on your fifth set on each exercise.
Do not try to lift too heavy or attempt to pull or push more weight than you can handle, and don’t try to get all your size and strength back on day one, especially if you are relatively new to training or you are just getting back in the gym after a year or two off.
You should never sacrifice form and technique to lift an extra 10-20 pounds on any given set on any one day doing any exercise. If you can’t lift a certain weight on any particular day, just do your absolute best that day, and get excited about the fact that you WILL be lifting that heavier weight soon. You should always be striving to lift progressively heavier and heavier weights each week to increase your fifth set true max totals. Keep lifting and DO NOT EVER STOP. Remember, your max weight today is next month’s warmup weight!
You should always remain humble in front of the weight following the "5 x 5" training methods and principles. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting out with a 50 pound max bench or a 300 pound max bench, a 100 pound max squat or a 400 pound max squat, and a 90 pound max deadlift or a 350 pound max deadlift, you must always respect the weight.
Why? Simple. It is ego (trying to lift too heavy) and improper form and technique that can and frequently does lead to serious injuries such as ripped out rotator cuffs, torn pecs, tendon/joint damage, pinched nerves, etc. The weight does not lie. You must always make sure you’re using perfect form and technique and staying in complete control of the weight you are lifting (IMPORTANT NOTE: Please see the Mentzer videos below for tips and secrets from another one of bodybuilding’s greatest legends on how to stay in complete control of the weight and eliminate momentum to minimize the chance of injury).
If you have a pre-existing injury, we suggest that you avoid any one specific "Big 5" compound movement/exercise that may aggravate that injury or causes any muscle/joint pain whatsoever, and simply substitute an alternate exercise (e.g. vertical bench in place of flat bench).
The following routine below is the EXACT SAME "5 x5" style training program used by bodybuilding’s greatest legends…including Arnold, Sergio, Yates, Park, Draper, Mentzer, Ronnie Coleman, Columbu, and many many more…to completely dominate and win every single major bodybuilding contest ever held over the course of the last 40+ years.
That being said, if you already have a training program or routine that you like and it is working for you or that you’ve been using for years with great success, by all means stick with it! However, if you’ve been searching for a routine that will help you take your training to the next level, or you just want to mix it up, "5 x 5" will have you shattering your personal records in all your lifts virtually overnight!
The muscle building fat burning results you can and will achieve using "5 x 5" training methods and principles will simply go WAY BEYOND the results you might achieve trying any one of the hundreds if not thousands of other types of bodybuilding routines that are available to you out there, especially many of the goofy routines involving "gadgets" you see on late night TV or the tons of weak "training systems" being advertised all over the internet that don't give you the type of KICKASS results from your training you want, need, and know you deserve.
So get ready to tear it up in the gym, take no prisoners, and SCORE more HOT chicks than a freaking ROCK STAR using "5 x 5"…just like Arnold!
Example "5 x 5" Training Program:
Training Schedule: (Monday, Wednesday, Friday; or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday)
The "Big 5" Exercises:
#1. Squats (Power Rack) 5 Sets x 5 Reps Set 1 = 185 x 5 (60% Max)/Warmup); Set 2 = 245 x 5 (80% Max/Warmup); Set 3 = 265 x 5 (Add 20 Pounds); Set 4 = 285 x 5(Add 20 Pounds); Set 5 = 305 x 5 True Max (Starting in Week 4, your goal is adding 10 lbs. Per Week to your Set 5 True Max Total, making sure you are adjusting the weights up for Sets 1-4 accordingly)
#2. Deadlifts (Barbell) 5 Sets x 5 Reps Set 1 = 195 x 5 (60% Max/Warmup); Set 2 = 260 x 5 (80% Max/Warmup); Set 3 = 280 x 5 (Add 20 Pounds); Set 4 = 300 x 5 (Add 20 Pounds); Set 5 = 320 x 5 True Max (Starting in Week 4, your goal is adding 10 lbs. Per Week to your Set 5 True Max Total, making sure you are adjusting the weights up for Sets 1-4 accordingly)
#3. Bench (Dumbbells or Barbell) 5 Sets x 5 Reps Set 1 = 185 x 5 (60% Max/Warmup); Set 2 = 245 x 5 (80% Max/Warmup); Set 3 = 265 x 5 (Add 20 Pounds); Set 4 = 285 x 5(Add 20 Pounds); Set 5 = 305 x 5 True Max (Starting in Week 4, your goal is adding 5 lbs. Per Week to your Set 5 True Max Total, making sure you are adjusting the weights up for Sets 1-4 accordingly)
#4. Military Press (Dumbbells or Barbell) 5 Sets x 5 Reps Set 1 = 90 x 5 (60% Max/Warmup); Set 2 = 120 x 5 (80% Max/Warmup); Set 3 = 130 x 5; (Add 10 Pounds); Set 4 = 140 x 5; (Add 10 Pounds); Set 5 = 150 x 5 True Max (Starting in Week 4, your goal is adding 5 lbs. Per Week to your Set 5 True Max Total, making sure you are adjusting the weights up for Sets 1-4 accordingly);
#5. Rows (Dumbbells or Barbell) 5 Sets x 5 Reps Set 1 = 150 x 5 (60% Max/Warmup); Set 2 = 200 x 5 (80% Max/Warmup); Set 3 = 220 x 5; (Add 20 Pounds); Set 4 = 240 x 5; (Add 20 Pounds); Set 5 = 260 x 5 True Max (Starting in Week 4, your goal is adding 5 lbs. Per Week to your Set 5 True Max Total, making sure you are adjusting the weights up for Sets 1-4 accordingly);
Following this old school "5 x 5" style training program, you should be so tired after your workouts that you can barely make it out of the gym. Remember, you should be limiting your workouts to 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes max and by your fifth set on each exercise you should be maxing out at 5 reps. This is how you will know if you are truly going HEAVY and pushing yourself. You would be surprised what some guys think is heavy.
Again, pay close attention to form and technique to avoid injury...especially on the Deadlift. (This one exercise will make your whole body huge. If you are not doing Deadlifts you are missing out bigtime. There is no better exercise in the entire gym better than Deadlifts for pure size and mass!)
