GENERAL TRAINING TIPS FROM THE OAK :
* CHOOSE THE BEST EXERCISES FOR GROWTH
For the Oak, training hard was as important as training smart. "To get
big, you have to get strong," he wrote. "Beginning and intermediate
bodybuilders shouldn't be as concerned with refinement as with growth."
With this in mind, focus less on single-joint movements (sometimes
called isolation exercises) in favor of multijoint ones. The bench
press, squat, deadlift, overhead press, bent-over row, and power clean
are examples of solid multijoint exercises that require several muscle
groups to work in coordination. These exercises should form the
foundation of your training plan.
While these movements are more
difficult to master than their single-joint counterparts, they offer the
added benefit of allowing you to train very heavy to overload the
target muscle groups. Arnold believed that performing these moves and
challenging yourself with heavy weights was the single most critical
component of gaining strength and size.
* USE HEAVY WEIGHTS FOR LOW REPS
For Arnold, choosing the right load was just as important as selecting
the right exercise. After all, 8 reps of squats with 365 pounds taken to
failure elicits a far better muscle-building stimulus than a set of 95
pounds for 40 reps.
"Start with a few warm-ups [not taken to muscle
failure] and pyramid the weight up from one set to the next, decreasing
the reps and going to failure," Arnold wrote. "Usually, I'll have
someone stand by to give me just a little bit of help past a sticking
point or cheat the weight up just a little [once I've reached muscle
failure]."
Arnold wasn't just concerned with feeling the weight; he
wanted to make sure the load induced muscle failure at a target range:
"I make a point of never doing fewer than six repetitions per set with
most movements," he notes," and nothing higher than 12. The rule applies
to most body parts, including calves." Make sure to choose the right
weight to fail within that rep range.
* DON'T GET COMFORTABLE WITH A ROUTINE
Few people know that Arnold has a business degree, but he didn't need
his diploma to realize that diminishing returns applies to workouts,
too.
Do the same workout for too long without making significant
changes, and its value will fall over time. That's when a bodybuilder
finds himself in a training rut.
"Within a basic framework, I was
constantly changing my exercises," Arnold wrote. "I liked to shock the
muscles by not letting them get complacent in a constant routine."
Arnold did his homework when it came to planning his training sessions.
If he found that an exercise was no longer producing gains, he'd switch
it for another.
Never afraid to experiment with new exercises or
alternative training methods, Arnold was on a perpetual search for new
ways to become bigger and better as old ways became stale.
* GO PAST FAILURE WITH ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
In his book, Arnold identified the use of a number of advanced training
techniques as a weapon to bring up a lagging body part. Arnold used
just about every intensity booster in the book, so to speak, but he
zeroed in on what worked best for him simply through trial and error.
Don't be afraid to apply such techniques as forced reps, negatives,
dropsets, partials, rest-pause, or other ideas you may read about to
your own training. Be sure to evaluate how you feel after using one, and
remember not to take every set past muscle failure; save it for your
1-2 heaviest sets of each exercise.
* GUARD AGAINST OVERTRAINING
In your zeal to bring up a stubborn muscle group, you might be tempted
to employ the "throw everything at 'em but the kitchen sink" approach,
but Arnold warned that this strategy might be counterproductive. "There
will be times when a body part lags behind because you are overtraining
it, hitting it so hard, so often, and so intensely that it never has a
chance to rest, recuperate, and grow," he wrote.
"The answer to this
problem is simply to give the muscles involved a chance to rest and
recover, and then to adjust your training schedule so that you don't
overtrain [the same body part] again. Remember, too much can be as bad
as too little when it comes to bodybuilding training."
