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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

Today’s training inspiration (to the right) is a man who is credited by many for almost singlehandedly bringing competitive bodybuilding out of the shadows and the dungeon-style gyms and into the mainstream.

At the time the landmark documentary Pumping Iron was filmed, Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the midst of an unprecedented string of six consecutive Mr. Olympia titles (to which he would add a seventh after a brief retirement). At the time, no bodybuilder had ever shown such complete and sustained dominance over his competition.

As Schwarzenegger, already a living legend to the relatively small but enthusiastic bodybuilding fan base, sought to cement his legacy with a victory, we saw other future legends training with almost unimaginable intensity: Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbu and Mike Katz, among others.

As he was, virtually always and without fail, Arnold ended up victorious, displaying the results not only of his intensity and focus in the gym, but also the results of his focus and creativity in his training in every regard from posing to personality to grace and balance.

Schwarzenegger would parlay his success in bodybuilding to become the world’s premier action film star, and also take his love and passion for fitness into politics, first serving as the Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, before running successfully for governor himself. All of the above not only cemented his legacy as an achiever of the highest stature, but also did a great deal to legitimize bodybuilding in popular culture.

ON TO TRAINING…

Arnold Schwarzenegger knew that muscles need rest to rebuild and in my training so far, I have been disregarding this wisdom for a few reasons, most of them inadequate.

I have always benefited from quick recoveries following workouts, whether they be weights or cardio or one-off fitness or endurance tests.

But I’ve been stupidly pushing things at a pace that would wear out the Wolverine’s ability to regenerate. And psychologically, I’ve been trying to pack as much as possible into every cardio day, simply because I am starting kind of from scratch (not being a runner) and knowing that race day is approaching quickly.

Even though I have known better all along, I keep succumbing to the mentality that if I pack three times as much into every day, without taking any days off, I will get where I am going three times as fast. Well, that mentality is good to a point (and you can take it pretty far) but there is a line and I have crossed it. My legs are shot.

So in the spirit of “the Austrian Oak” Arnold Schwarzenegger, I am going to be smart today. No running. No biking. No elliptical. No jogging. This is just a good old-fashioned mass and power throwdown.

TODAY’S PERFORMANCE

Weights:
- Lat Pulldowns (x5)
- Seated Cable Rows (x5)
- Back Extensions (x5)
- Seated Shoulder Press (x5)
- Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises (x5)
- Standing Dumbbell Forward Raises (x5)
- Dumbbell Shrugs (x5)
- Forearm Overhand Curls (x5)
- Forearm Underhand Curls (x5)

iPod songs during training (custom):
1. Rage Against the Machine – Do What They Told Ya
2. Rascal Flatts – Life is a Highway
3. Rascalz and Shawn Desman – Movie Star
4. Ratt – Round and Round
5. Ratatat – Wildcat
6. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Can’t Stop
7. Rick Derringer – Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo
8. Rihanna – Umbrella
9. Robert Miles – Fable
10. Robert Tepper – Angel of the City
11. Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me (400 People Mix)
12. Run DMC – Down With the King

INSPIRATIONAL CLIP

The following video is actually a collage someone put together to the end credits song for Rocky V. Much as the end credits of the film show Balboa’s journey through life as a boxer from 1976-1990, this video shows some of the highlights of Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding career. The song is Measure of a Man by Elton John.

BACK TO Index of Inspirational Role Models for Training