Last updated on June 1st, 2022 at 07:33 pm
Recently Arnold Schwarzenegger took to Reddit to share the calisthenics, home based workout routine that he used to use back in the day.
In an effort to help people stay at home during this time period where gyms are closed due to the current COVID-19 scare, Schwarzenegger’s home workout seems like a perfect solution!
We, here at SHJ, are also making changes to help everyone train from home, having just retired our Bodyweight Book program (previously a paid Superhero Program) in order to utilize a lot of it’s content in our new Ultimate Calisthenics Workout Routine & Guide article; which is absolutely free to all members of The SHJ Army (even you!)
We are also theming all our character workouts (and doing our best to publish the celebrity workouts that are home-based like this one) around a calisthenics and home-based regime.
They not only land on our blog feed, and in our Workout Database, but they will also be updated and appear within that guide I linked to above as well (which includes dozens and dozens of resources all over the site).
That being said: we have obvously seen Arnold Schwarzenegger at SHJ in the past.
We actually have seen him on more than one occasion. We have The Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout Routine and Diet Plan article, and we also have an article for him in our “Top Performers” section which goes into a bit of different details than we’re used to (even his favorite cheat meals).
For that reason I will be sharing his dietary research from the other articles in the next section, and the new content for this one will strictly be coming within the workout portions.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Stats:
Height: 6’2
Weight: (approximate) 250 lbs.
Age: 72 years old
Arnold Schwarzenegger is actually right around the average height we see for male celebs at SHJ.
Although when I think of him I generally automatically think of a giant.
The average height is anywhere from 6’1-6’3 with celebs like Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman, Chris Evans, Adam Driver, Stephen Amell, Clive Standen and so many more.
And, even taller than them are guys like The Mountain, Dwayne Johnson, Joe Manganiello, Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Winston Duke, Alexander Skarsgard and a few others.
Don’t forget about the short range though. We also have Zac Efron, KJ Apa, Mark Wahlberg, Daniel Radcliffe, Tom Holland and more falling in that range.
But, don’t worry either way.
I write these routines to be utilized by any shape and size.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Diet and Nutrition
**This next section comes directly from our regular “Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout & Diet” article; if you’d like to see about his cheat meals and more you can also check out our Top Performer Article on Arnold.**
Be prepared to eat a lot of protein.
Arnold LOVES his protein.
No, seriously…
For this section I’m going to be using a great article from Bodybuilding.com because they’ve talked to Arnold a bunch and give us some awesome info.
First and foremost they give us “ARNOLD’S RULE”:
I always lived off the rule that for every pound of bodyweight, I needed one gram of protein.
That means, I’m around 175 lbs right now, so I’d be taking in 175 grams of protein per day.
If you missed that part.
They continue by telling us:
As a 250-pound mass monster, the challenge for Arnold was eating nearly 250 grams of protein daily and making sure that his body could use it all. “I felt like it worked best when I had five meals per day. There are some people who can work with three meals. For me, five meals was the answer because I never was a big eater. I always felt comfortable with a regular-sized steak. If you gave me a 10-ounce steak, even in my heyday, I was happy.”
So intermittent fasting is out for this one.
I normally love suggesting it, but it’s likely you’re going to be bulking if you want to look like Arnold (I’m not sure we have any people in the SHJ Army who compare to his size already…) – so you’re going to be taking in a ton of food.
And, while I promised I wouldn’t overload you with info, I want to give you a big chunk of the article to guide you through the rest of Arnold’s day and nutrition.
In the morning, Arnold would often eat a few scrambled eggs, some bacon or sausage, and some tomatoes and onions. “I was fine with that,” he says. “The only thing is, two hours after that breakfast I was hungry.” To supplement his whole food meals and get the protein he needed for substantial growth, Arnold never went far without a protein shake.
“As I was sitting there at Santa Monica City College or doing construction, I would pull out of my bag a little plastic container full of milk and protein powder. That was the additional 30 grams of protein that I needed at that time.”
An hour after his protein shake, Arnold would be at the gym doing what he did best—lifting big weight. After the gym was a late lunch of steak and vegetables. Two hours after lunch, Arnold would have another protein shake. “So, two times per day, I would have protein drinks in order to get up to the 250 grams that I needed,” he says.
Aside from protein, Arnold also knew the value of supplementing his meals for the overall health of his body. “We have to recognize that we do not get all of the nutrients—the vitamins, the minerals, the protein—through regular meals,” says Arnold. “That’s why we have supplements. No matter how healthy we eat, we won’t get enough [essential nutrients] from regular meals.”
Now, if that’s not some awesome freakin’ information, I don’t know what is.
Thank you Bodybuilding.com.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger “Stay At Home” Workout Routine Research
This past week Arnold took to Reddit to share his old home workout routine.
He starts by talking about the COVID-19 scare by stating:
This coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented. I have heard from so many of my fans that you are anxious and scared.
Almost everything happening around the world right now is out of our control. Almost everything. Instead of worrying about the things we can’t change, let’s focus on the things we do control.
First, and most importantly, we can control how responsible we are right now. We can slow down the spread of the virus by staying at home as much as possible. I know that isn’t easy, but right now it’s our responsibility. Most of us will be fine if we get the virus. This is a time not to think about yourself, but to think about the people you could be infecting. Be a part of the solution, and stay home every chance you can. That means no bars, no restaurants, no gatherings, and you’ll all be shocked to hear this from me, but no gyms.
Then he moves into some fitness related discussion, specifically to do with training from home.
And if Arnold says it’s okay, I think we’re going to be alright.
Here’s what he has to say:
Even without a gym, we can also control our physical fitness during this pandemic. Body weight, or freehand, training is the oldest method in the world. Gladiators and Vikings didn’t have gymnasiums. I started my own fitness journey with chin-ups on a tree branch by a lake in Austria. My father would encourage my brother and I to train by following the footsteps of a boxing hero of ours, László Papp, who chopped wood when he was preparing for a fight (this was a great trick to get us to do our chores). And once, when I found myself in New York to promote fitness, but ironically I couldn’t find a gym, I still found a way to train. I ran up the steps of the Park Lane Hotel where I was staying, all 46 stories, and by the end I was completely schvitzy and my legs got an incredible pump.
You don’t need a gym to be fit. I’ve written a program for all of you. You can do it every other day and it will cover all of your muscle groups.
The system is simple. If an exercise says 50 reps, you are doing 50 reps however you can. You can do 10 sets of 5 reps, 5 sets of 10 reps, 2 sets of 25 reps. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you finish 50 reps with perfect form. Once you complete the reps of one exercise, move on to the next exercise.
A note on form: if you cheat at an exercise, you are only cheating yourself. Don’t let your ego do the movements for you. You might want to show off to me or your friends and do 50 push-ups in one set, but if you can’t do them with perfect form, I’ll be more impressed by 5 sets of 10 perfect push-ups.
I have given repetition guidelines for beginners who don’t train very often and for more advanced trainers. But if you have actually never worked out, spend your first few workouts just getting used to the movements. I don’t want you to force yourself through 25 rows or knee-bends and then be unable to do the workout again in two days because you are too sore. And adjust the exercises for yourself – if a push-up is too much, instead of putting your hands on the floor, put them on a counter to make the movement a little easier. If a dip between chairs is too much, use your feet on the floor to take some of the weight off of your upper body. Don’t feel bad about working your way up to the full workout – we all start somewhere.
You aren’t adding weight like you would be in the gym, but you can still track your progress. If you could do 5 perfect push-ups today, do 6 in your next workout. Track the number of sets it takes you each time to hit your total reps, and watch as the number of sets goes down over time.
And in that last section he’s talking about progressive overload when it comes to bodyweight movements, which is something we push at SHJ with all our routines, especially our Superhero Programs, Hero Quests and, obviously, The Academy.
We actually help all our Academy members upgrade EVERY single workout routine, bodyweight or weight training, with our Upgrade Your Workout Tool.
You’ll see he also talks about the system above. We’ll add more on that when we share the entire workout below, but it’s a system we’ve used countless times at SHJ, so I’m sure a ton of you are used to it.
Stay safe, and enjoy!
**If you guys want more images of Arnold performing the movements you can find them here.**
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout Routine
Training Volume:
5+ days per week
Explanation:
The good news is that we’re working with a program that’s modified for Beginner -> Advanced. We’re also doing movements that we can more or less repeat on a daily basis. I would potentially take one day off in between and do 3-4 days of this program per week while adding in cardio or active rest days in between; but if you’re in any way a calisthenics pro already, this should be cake.
System Explanation:
Arnold says “The system is simple. If an exercise says 50 reps, you are doing 50 reps however you can. You can do 10 sets of 5 reps, 5 sets of 10 reps, 2 sets of 25 reps. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you finish 50 reps with perfect form. Once you complete the reps of one exercise, move on to the next exercise.”
Want To Upgrade This Workout?
The Superhero Academy now comes with an Upgrade Your Workout Tool that allows Academy members to turn any SHJ workout into a 4-8 week fully planned regime detailing exact weights to lift and including reverse & tradition pyramid training, straight sets, super sets, progressive overload and more.
Arnold Schwarzenegger At Home Workout Routine
Pushups
Beginner: 25 Reps
Advanced: 50 Reps
Dips between chairs
Beginner: 20 Reps
Advanced: 50 Reps
Row between chairs
Beginner: 30 Reps
Advanced: 50 Reps
Sit-ups
Beginner: 30 Reps
Advanced: 100 Reps
Bent-leg raises
Beginner: 25 Reps
Advanced: 50 Reps
Bent-over twists
Beginner: 25 Reps
Advanced: 50 Reps
Knee bends (squats)
Beginner: 25 Reps
Advanced: 50-70 Reps
Calf raises
Beginner: 25 Reps
Advanced: 50 Reps
Chin-ups
Beginner: 10 Reps
Advanced: 30 Reps
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