Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men

by Bill Dobbins and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Book Overview

The complete program for building and maintaining a well-conditioned, excellently proportioned body-for a lifetime of fitness and health. In Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men, legendary athlete Arnold Schwarzenegger shows you how to achieve the best physical condition of your life. For every man, at every age, Arnold outlines a step-by-step program of excercise, skillfully combining weight training and aerobic conditioning. The result-total cardiovascular...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671256130
• ISBN13: 9780671256135
• Release Date: April 1981
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An underrated book from Arnold

I have all of Arnold's books. But this is the only book that discusses warm-down exercises. Unlike any of his other books, he talks about working out when you are travelling or busy with work and how to improvise in a hotel room. This book also has a section on teenage weight training which is a very good resource if you have a son like me. Really looking forward to start training my son when he hits the age of 15....

To the Point

I bought this book for my boyfriend and he loves it. The book is broken down in to specific areas and along with the pictures, make exercises easy to understand and do correctly. The pictures are VERY outdated which makes for a good laugh, but overall the book is great. NO FLUFF! And you can never go wrong with Arrrrnnnold.

basic and to the point

This is a great, no frills, concise set of routines from the legendary Arnold. He covers the major muscles areas, stretching, diet, etc. My only fault with the book is the lack of variations in the exercises. I have created my own routines based on his sequence, however, and use his routines as the cornerstone of my workouts. For a huge choice of variations for each muscle group, check out Getting Stronger by Bill Pearl. I use Arnolds sequence and get my variations from Pearl's book. Arnold recommends three times through the workout, and when time permits I do that, but I've had decent results with 2x, adding a few reps to each set. This is a great addition to anyones fitness library.

Good Basic Information

The information presented in the book is no-frills weight training and practical advice. Perhaps that is why some people don't like it. They are usually the ones who are taken in by the allure of protein shakes, supplements of dubious value, and exotic weight training routines. It is unfortunate that Arnold, like most bodybuilders, got his huge gains from steroids. He is clear, however that his massive gains took many years to achieve. People still believe they can go from flab to male model muscle in 12 weeks or 6 months. Muscle takes work, time, and dedication, more than most people are willing to devote. Arnold's dietary advice is practical and no-nonsense. He deflates the standard ideas of high protein diets and vitamin supplements as a way to speed muscle gains. His recommendations are pretty standard, lots of fruits & veggies, small amounts of meat, avoid heavily processed foods. Not a very marketable point of view but at least a logical one. His blurbs about daily nutrition requirements were most likely lifted straight from the FDA, but that info comes from scientists, so its better information than what you read in muscle magazines.The pictures are of course dated. Nobody wears calf socks and skimpy shorts with white piping anymore, and the models are like normal folks, hairy, balding, shaped funny. Today we are so used to shaved, tanned and sculpted models in magazines and books it is somewhat disconcerting to read this older tome.His routines are brutal, so don't expect to be able do them completely. Mutiple sets are at the core of his training regimen. I tend to do only 2-3 sets per muscle group, but that is what I am comfortable with. Vary the routines to your liking and ability, because not everybody can keep up with Arnie...

The Right Way to Transform Your Life!

I've used the method in this book for several years, starting at age 47, I'm now 52, and it changed my life, made me stronger, healthier and more sucessful. Highly, highly recommended. There's a lot to learn but when you do it completely for awhile, and then you see others coming into the gym doing their routines, you really see the superiority of this method. It is totally thought out and very beneficial for both men and women. I have started my daughter using it, and she has seen the same great results. Kudos to the master. I could lose his movies, but NOT this book!

a classic!

I've read most of the standard books on this subject & found this to be among the "must haves." It's well written, from the perspective of one who's lived what he recommends. I found it to be extremely practical, emphasizing results rather than theory