Fit at 76, Arnold Schwarzenegger Settles the Debate on More Reps vs More Weights: ?You?ll Be Shocked?

The fitness crusade that Arnold Schwarzenegger started in January has grown exponentially. What started as a newsletter has now expanded into Arnold’s Pump Club. Schwarzenegger launched the podcast version of his newsletter due to popular demand from his over 400,000 readers. Recently, he even launched The Pump App. While the app is still in the beta testing stage, selected members are helping Arnie and his team test out its features.

The bodybuilding legend did a?“Thursday Q&A”?for his app users. In the latest edition of the newsletter, Schwarzenegger highlighted some of the best questions and the solutions he provided. One of those questions was concerned with the age-old debate:?“More Reps or higher weights?”?The 76-year-old fitness icon settled the debate with his answer.

Arnold Schwarzenegger divulges the correct approach to training

The debate between more reps (volume) vs. more weights (intensity) has raged in the bodybuilding world for decades. Bodybuilders like Mike Mentzer and six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates showed the effectiveness of focusing on training intensity. On the flip side, legends like Arnold Schwarzenegger, eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney, and Ronnie Coleman showed the effectiveness of training volume.

In his answer, Schwarzenegger gave equal emphasis to both.?“We want muscular strength and muscular endurance,”?wrote the seven-time Mr. Olympia.?“When I give you an exercise that starts out at 15 reps every week, I do not mean for you to do the same weight for 15 reps every week,” he added. While volume is necessary, sticking to the same weight yields no results

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“I want that weight going up. I want progress,”?stated Arnie.?“Most of the time we have you work in lower reps too…”?admitted the Austrian Oak. Hence, progressive overload with the mix of intensity and volume was Arnie’s answer.?“Give me 1% more. Eventually, you’ll be shocked how it builds,”?Schwarzenegger wrote in his newsletter. Arnie followed a similar method during his prime.

How high was the seven-time Mr. Olympia’s training volume?

The bodybuilding icon applied a similar approach to his training. The Austrian Oak did a lot of volume, but he also lifted a lot of weight. After doing a warmup set of each exercise with light weight and high reps, Schwarzenegger pyramided up in weight. He typically did five sets of each exercise and did 10 to 15 reps in each set.

However, Arnie’s reps and weight also differed depending on which body part he trained. Schwarzenegger maintained a balance between reps and weight for the chest, arms, and shoulders. However, Arnie used more weight for compound movements and legs and kept the reps relatively low. What did you think of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s training advice? Tell us in the comments.

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