Schwarzenegger's Diet

[Alle_Gory]

Arnold Schwarzenegger Bodybuilding Tips

For those who have a hard time gaining weight, Arnold advises that they should:

# Eat 5-6 smaller meals a day
# Eat carbs half an hour after exercising
# Rest at least 3 days a week
# Sleep 8 or more hours a day
# Eat 30 to 50 grams of protein with each meal every 3 hours
# Not avoid unsaturated fats because they raise hormone levels
# Eat between 60 and 100 grams of carbs per day
# Eat no more than 3 eggs a day
# Substitute beef and pork with chicken and fish
# Avoid sugar -- it contains empty calories; eat fruits and vegetables for carbs instead
# Use supplements and protein shakes to get the required daily amount of protein

Source

Adjust as needed.

Some adjustments:
If you're putting on fat, increase the exercise or decrease the calories.
If you've got a fast metabolism then do less. Increase rest.

 

[EFFORT]

This must be geared at super newbies and its so broad (with also some blatantly wrong info) that if someone is a super newbie they couldn't even apply it correctly.

 

[novaguy7]

"Rest at least 3 days a week" So he only went to the gym 4 times a week? Hmmm I go 5 so I might just start taking Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays off

Good find, thanks for posting..

 

[Smack]

A lot of very old fashioned and pure nonsensical information there. It worked well for him, but how many men have his elite genetics and drugs?

For example, why between 60-100 grams of carbs per day? Some people will be able to handle a good bit more than that without getting fat, and it's often these people who struggle to gain weight. And why no more than 3 eggs per day? Because they raise 'cholesterol'? They do - but the good kind, and these studies on this were done by cereal companies (ask Poliquin)! Eggs are an excellent sources of protein, fats and calories. And swapping beef and pork for chicken and fish makes no sense. It's best to get protein from a wide range of sources.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

"Rest at least 3 days a week" So he only went to the gym 4 times a week? Hmmm I go 5 so I might just start taking Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays off

Good find, thanks for posting..

No way...Arnold lived in the gym. I know he used to train with Franco Columbo and Stallone. Those guys would workout once in the morning and once in the evening 4-5 times a week. Those guys were insane. They used techniques like weider training, isolation training - shocking muscles techniques like super-sets, forced reps, peak contraction training and negatives and loads of other techniques that I've never heard of.

The last thing anyone on this board should do (unless they have the genetics and ability to devote that much time to it) is follow the majority of what these monsters say.

Arnold had a strong background in powerlifting. I've seen a picture of Arnold deadlifting 700 pounds at 19 years old looking ridiculously ripped. I know he also did deep squats for reps at 430 lbs, and benched around 500 lbs. In no way was all that strength from steriods, that guy is just a beast who is gifted in fitness. I admire his motiviation, his strength, his abilities...but the last thing I'm going to do is train and eat exactly like him.

 

[Alle_Gory]

but the last thing I'm going to do is train and eat exactly like him.

I try to train exactly as he does. I eat whole foods. I adjust carbs as needed, but mostly focusing on proteins and fats. I go to the gym and train with as much intensity as possible. I experiment with new exercises whenever possible, and I get as much rest as I can to heal up.

This is how Arnold trained: Adjust as needed.

* Arnold was wrong about very few things. He understood the importance of fats, and although he recommended many good sources, such as nuts and healthy oils, he also recommended mayonnaise, which is high in saturated fats. Still, he may be proved right in the future. Saturated fats are important for increasing such hormones as testosterone, and their reputation as an unhealthy forbidden food is beginning to shift in bodybuilding circles.

* Although Arnold began with a program delineated for him by his gym mentors, he tailored it to his personal preferences as he became more confident in his abilities. In particular, he followed the routines of his idol, Reg Park, as they were published in the day's Weider magazines. Park was a firm believer in basic movements done with the heaviest weight manageable for relatively low (five to 10) reps. Accordingly, Arnold was even further impressed that he needed to stick to core exercises to reach his goal of bulking up to 250 pounds.

One thing you can learn from him is to tailor workouts specifically for your body.

In my early days back in Austria, I would have the weirdest kinds of training sessions. They never followed any accepted form. Everything was done in the truest instinctive way. My training partners and I would decide what bodypart we wanted to work that day and then proceed to bomb it out of existence.

Arnold found a training program that fit his mental and physical tolerances like a glove. What's important to note is that he decided to make adjustments to the program prescribed by his mentors almost from the outset.

Source

 

[I-tallionStallion]

I try to train exactly as he does. I eat whole foods. I adjust carbs as needed, but mostly focusing on proteins and fats. I go to the gym and train with as much intensity as possible. I experiment with new exercises whenever possible, and I get as much rest as I can to heal up.

Yeah I agree with a lot of what your saying. But to train twice a day for several hours and throw in cardio. How many people have that much time?What about overtraining? While Arnold messed with steriods, I hardly doubt overtraining bothered his body much.

I'm not going to eat "exactly" like him because I don't agree with all his dietary advice. 3 eggs a day? C'mon, that's just stupid. He probably doesn't even believe this! Who's the audience to these suggestions? Where is this info found other than some fansite? Personally I don't trust the source anyhow. Did you ever read a quote of him saying this?

 

[Smack]

Here is the Arnold split that he used often during his bodybuilding career:

Monday: legs
Tuesday: chest, shoulders and back
Wednesday: arms
Thursday: legs
Friday: chest, shoulders and back
Saturday: arms.

That would overtrain the hell out of mere mortals. So much overlap that upper body is trained 16 times a month.

Of course, he didn't always train like that. In the beginning, he used 3 times a week full body workouts, with lots of exercises. Again, would train the hell out of mere mortals.

Alle_Gory, if you train with as much intensity as possible, then you're doing your 1RM on every lift you do.

 

[Alle_Gory]

Alle_Gory, if you train with as much intensity as possible, then you're doing your 1RM on every lift you do.

That's intensity mostly for the nervous system. You can't gain muscle on 1RM training.