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 How much weight did Arnold use?
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| Author | Topic: How much weight did Arnold use? | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder 
Posts: 135 |
I was watching pumping iron last night and wondering how much weight arnold was squatting , and how much Franco was benching. I saw three plates each side on arnold's squat and the same when Franco was benching, 315lbs isn't really that impressive for a MR Olympia, maybe the plates were heavier than 45's? I would have thought seeing as Franco and Arnold used to powerlift theyd have used more.     | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 81 |
They peaked at higher weights, but Arnold was generally very weak for his size. Franco however was able to deadlift 730lbs. -MO | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder 
Posts: 533 |
I aint shit compared to any of them but I can bench 360 lbs for 2 reps so I know they can do more. Perhaps more focusing on squeezing the muscle and intensity rather than the weight. Or myabe just warming up. Gonna watch that film soon, its been discontinued on video over here. ------------------ You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 81 |
Well there's photo's of Arnold putting about 430lbs above his chest for 4-6 reps, but it was rare at best. Remeber this was a guy with 22/23 inch arms that used 35lb dumbells and was screaming in pain and effort. Lastly, we all differ in demonstraitable strength levels. Things like, arm length, tendon stregnth, and skeletal leverage will play a big part in trying to prove who is actually stronger (or should I say, who's msucle can contract with more force). -MO ------------------ | ||
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Freak 
Posts: 1501 |
I trust they are all strong enough, but remember body building is not powerlifting. There goal was to work up a pump and fully contract the muscle not quickly move massive amounts of weight, without the possibility injury. . .besides I am a big Arnold fan, so in my mind he was plenty strong, even if he wasn't. ------------------ | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 491 |
Did you see how franco was paying with the wieght though. He left it on his chest laughing and then lifted it no biggie. I cant even lift that much max Nick | ||
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Guru 
Posts: 3604 |
Im with the big hairy bear on this one, I heard arnold had built those massive arms on 45's. I am in a gym where a few pros hang out, I see them lift they don't put up the weight youd expect, its not because they can't, its because they know what works to build their bodies better, and heavy ass weight with subpar form doesn't do it. We have some fat guys in the gym that can put up some big weights, but my goal is a better looking body, not to have the scrubs in the gym look at me b/c of the amount of weight Im pushing. ------------------ For a good time click here: Search and Profiles (300Kleens Board) | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 135 |
Ahhhh this makes me feel better about the amount of weight I use (not much). I concentrate and feel the muscle in every exercise. I love Arnold, did anyone from the UK see him on big breakfast this morning, denise van outen was gagging for it!! | ||
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Moderator
Posts: 1326 |
See i am an athlete not a BB, so i love to bang some metal. i am not impressed unless i see at least 5 plates on a side for squat or deads, bench they have to ahve atleast 4 now for my size (6' 260+)i am not that strong
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 89 |
Im with Kodiac and Slopain. Ive said this many times in previos posts. Bodybuilding is all about illusions. If I told you that Arnold could only Shoulder press the 45 dumbells does it really matter. The fact is wieght is not an issue its all about the shape of the muscle, vascularity and leanness. I have seen plenty of novices at the gym who actually attempt wieght that pros use and they almost kill themselves. Unless you have some type of insecurity issue, weight does not matter!!!! Lift properly, feel every rep and concentrate and the poundage will come. "Its not that we plan to fail, we simply fail to plan" | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 485 |
yeah , bodybuilding and powerlifting are definately different animals . pound for pound , the disparity in strength seems to increase as bodyweight increases . When i did PL @242 ( about 7 years ago ) i was about 14%bf and benched 460 , now im about 260#@10% and i cant bench 460( maybe 405 for a couple ) , but the volume of work i do for chest is so much greater , and my pec development is so much better . And Arnold never had 22/23 inch arms despite what you might have read or heard in a magazine . And franco was strong as a Motherfucker ( i always used to think of that pic of him DLing 675 n/n/n, when i would DL ) ------------------ | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 132 |
well arnold maxed a bench at 525, and a squat at 700, now I am a good example that heavy weightlifting is not always the way to build good-looking muscle, I think to get a balanced shape and strength you dont need to bench 400+ or lift a house, first off, I am scared to lift real heavy due to injury, seeing how I have hurt my back in the past, see on chest day my routine consists of 225 only on flat bench.......I do all the exercises flat, incline, decline, flys, cable....etc.....but on flat bench though,225 is the highest I go, but I rep it for 25-27 reps then bounce over to a dumbbell flat bench with 60 lbs and hit about 12 of those, now the pump I get is great and I feel if I strain the muscle enough to failure, you will almost be mimmicking that 400lbs, so in my workout I do an array of supersets, trisets, and concentrations to give the muscle a full workout, a guy who use to train with tom platz and jim quinn once told me its not how much weight you can push its what you look like. | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 530 |
I have to agree. At the gym where I work out, there are some guys there that can bench their asses off. I've seen some guys put up 405 for 8 reps, but they are very fat and have NO physique whatsoever. It seems as if they don't feel the weight as it is moving, they just strive for momentum and weight. Throwing around large amounts of weight using momentum isn't going to build a physique like Arnold. It really isn't about the weight. Do you think the girls on the beach this summer will care how much you can bench press? Hell no, they won't. But if you are ripped and have built yourself a nice physique, they will notice you. Outside those gym walls, provided you are a bodybuilder, the amount of weight you can push around becomes less and less important. | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 340 |
Franco was repping 405, not 315 in Pumping Iron. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 282 |
I still haven't got a copy of that Pumping Iron Video yet. Anyone who can make me a copy I would greatly appreciate and pay a King's Ransom for it...j/k, but would be happy to payb for it....thanks. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 146 |
Given the choice i'd rather look like i can bench 500lbs than be fat and actually able to do it. But, thats just me. Mike ------------------ | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 81 |
From a science piotn of view, what we now know about progessive muscle fiber recruitment is that there must be a certain amount of resistance applied to the muscle to involve as many fibers as possible, and further more "Feeling the weight" or slow rep training has been shown to recruit less of a specific muscle motor units, which is what you strive for. For mass, the most important difference between powerlifting and bodybuilding is the energy source that the contracts use, and exercise form. Powerlifters will use more ATP (less reps to faliure) while bodybuilders should be more concerned with, and I know this may sound truely unheard of to some of you, lactic acid. Yes, Lactic acid can be broken down in the muscle almost immediately for energy production if the demand placed upon that area is great enough where other energy stores have been exhausted. If is one reason why creatine monohydrate, in the small population of people it is effective in, is much more useful for "powerlifting strength" than "bodybuilding strength." I think someone would be a fool not to think that if you are benching an additional 30lbs for 10-15 reps, that it came from some form of quantative increase in contractile ability (which would mean larger, thicker fibers - or size-), and not ligament strength or leverage. Otherwise, their periods of time off between training each muscle group, and the number of set used should be very similar. Look to the current pro's, how many of them still train with 20 sets? The real BIG guys, like Nasser, Jay Cutler, Aaron Baker, and Jean Pierre Fux all use much lower volumes of training. Sure there are a couple like Marcus Ruhl and Lee Priest that are using high volume training, but they are now the minority as exercise science has advanced from non-existance just 25-30 years ago, to it actually coming down to a very specific study of cuase and effect now. I train clients who are concerned only with size very breifly with 3 sets/exercise, 2 exercise AT MOST per bodypart for 10-15 reps. My <b>AVERAGE</B> client has gained naturally, nearly 11-13lbs of lean bodyweight a month, only falling short of that when they don't listen to me nutritional advise (I had one of them walk into my gym with a can of pop in his hand....I almost killed him, but I refrained to just saying- "and you wonder why your gains this month have been falling back." Now then, if a client requests training for purely definition (IE heavier set individuals), then I will inpliment a much higher volume of training (9-12 sets/bodypart for those with some gym experience), as well as a for of circuit training. The reason for this isn't muscle growth, it's the basic laws of your bodys thermodynamics. You know what, I forgot where I was going with this...dammit, lol. -MO ------------------ | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 530 |
""Feeling the weight" or slow rep training has been shown to recruit less of a specific muscle motor units, which is what you strive for." So, mean one, let me get this straight. Instead of controlling the weight, concentrating on the feel of the muscle lifting the weight, and working the muscle to failure sensibly, you are trying to say that throwing around heavy poundages using momentum recruits more muscle fibers? I say you are full of shit. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 89 |
First of all this post is getting really old. Now, I had an experience with some asshole at the gym who was barbell curling 200lbs but swinging so much I thought he was gonna flip backwards into a back handspring. When he was done he went to dumbells where he picked up the 80's and did the same shit. I asked him if I could work in. So, I picked up the 60's and did 10 effortless reps slow, controlled, no swinging. He of course got pissed and attempted the same and with much dismay could barely get 5 reps a side. The moral is that powerlifting, momentum lifting or whatever else you wanna call it is not BODYBUILDING!!!! Anyone who says different is obviously a novice. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 166 |
Obviously Arnold was the star of Pumping Iron, but did you see Lou doing 315+ on standing military press? It's one thing to do 3 plates a side while seated with a chair for support, but standing is fucking incredible. Too bad Lou is an asshole. [This message has been edited by PerfectRep (edited December 11, 2000).] | ||
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Cool Novice 
Posts: 26 |
genetics play a huge part in strength, tendon length can be such a huge difference. Thats why some big looking guys are'nt able to lift huge weights, the difference of a tendon being 2 cm and 3 cm is massive in the amount of power your muscle can exert on the joint. Since most of us are BB'ers it does'nt really matter that much in the end, its all about fatigueing your muscles, and forcing the bastards to grow. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 81 |
God damn, do I have to spoon feed you guys information? I never said that inproper form, and dangerous movements were the key. In fact, if you are capable of reading, I stated that proper form was needed. You people are pionting out the worst possible examples. There's asshole in every gym, who throw around huge weights and hurt thier backs, but if you have ever seen Jay Cutler train, or Dorian Yates train...you would see that just because you use explosive force, does not equate to poor form. You still need proof about the speed of a movement recruiting more fibers? Stand up and jump without bending your knees. Now try to do it slowly. Having problems? Your body can not recruit enough fibers to propel you up very far, if any at all, but just because you jump quickly, dosen't make it an inproper jump. Now then, people like to do slow negatives. Bend your knees slowly, and straighten them slowly as if you were jumping. Now go down quickly and back up immediately...jumped a little higher? There is a period in the stretch that will enable your body to recruit more muscle fibers. Now if you were to tuck your body at the bottom and burst up with everything...mommentum, because now your attempting to use your center mass as weight to carry you up. Now then, the common arguement....it's mommentum. Is it? If your benching and the plates cling at the top because of how fast your performing it, then yes, you are using mommentum. But with proper form, and an all out explose burst at the bottom, while YES, concentrating on contracting the target muscle, your body will by instinct, recruit more fibers. On the negative, don't smash the weight down on your chest, but don't wait at the bottom either. Down, immediately up, and powerfully! That's the type of "Control" that so many pro's talk about and most people misunderstand as control as in doing something excessively slowly and specifically dictating each part of the movement. The "Explosive Control" generated only by the target muscles involved, without mommentum or any other extrnal force. I guess you guys are right though, I'm full of crap...then again, I get paid nearly $70/hour to train people in this fashion, so I must be doing something right? Ignore the fact that they make more progess in the first 3 months naturally, than most will make in a year or two. Also, I'm certified, are you? Thanks. -MO ------------------ | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 189 |
Those big plates in pumping iron are 100 pound plates. | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 33 |
Anybody who has done any research on arnolds career knows that he was a proponent of moving the heaviest weights possible. If you read his "encyclopedia of body building book you will find that him and columbo would often do flat bench set of 500+ pounds. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 151 |
those big plates in pumping iron are THICK 45s. Used to have some in my old gym, thick edges like 100s but thin in the middle. I LOVED those plates, a 405 squat looked like 1,000. Good for the old ego....hehe ------------------ | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 81 |
Well, I decided to sit down and watch Pumping Iron again. Yup, those sure are 45's. I heavily doubt otherwise (Arnold squating 645 for 12-15 reps? Yeah please). Hey, did anyone notice thier rep speeds? All of them? Lou Ferrigno doing standing presses, up down, up down, explosion - controlled descent, explosion...How about Arnold squating? He does slowly stand up like he's squeezing out a turtle head. Hell, he was getting pissy with Ed Corney because he was resting to much between reps (which allows fibers to recover, leading to a lower percentage of the overall muscle being contracted.) Hell, Arnold doing crossovers, pretty fast pace...in fact as fast as he could move them without causing the weights to bounce at the top. Since most of you read more muscle mags than medical journals, if you look to the September 1997 issue of "Flex Magazine," on pages 115-122 there is an article entitle "In search of the perfect rep." There is nothing in this article which contradicts anything I said, but when reading it, you will find it heavily supports exactly what I have said when your goal is for maximum muscle growth (the product of maximum growth stimulus). Unless there are some very valid counter arguements made, I will leave this thread alone for now. -MO (What do I have to do to get just a small percentage of the individuals on the board to realize that I actually might NOT be pulling these things I say outta my ass.) ------------------ | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 360 |
Don't forget, Arnold always did a shit load of sets. I could not bench much either after 15 sets of chest work! ------------------ | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 51 |
Arnold is useing 60 pounders for bi's , not 45's- | ||
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Elite Bodybuilder 
Posts: 1157 |
Yo MeanOne! Let me start by saying you are an arrongant bastard But I agree with your training philosophy 100%. And I apply those principles to my training. Tone down the attitude a little and you will actually get the others to see that you are a knowledgeable bro! ------------------ [This message has been edited by DREXX (edited December 11, 2000).] | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 149 |
I read a lot of literature stating that Arnold built his bis with just 50lb dumbells. Other excercises were obviously included but it was said that it his dumbell work was the most effective. Don't know if it is all truth since you shouldn't believe everything you read. | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 340 |
yep, exactly what Drexx said. I made some good size gains following westside barbells program which uses max acceleration. I think there is something to be said for pausing at the bottom some of the time. While the stretch reflex is good at firing more motor units, being able to explode from a dead stop also requires and incredible amount of force (just like jumping out of the blocks at the start of a sprint). | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 81 |
Well, ti would be true if it weren't for the body's reflex abililty, which is, and always will be, the single best way to fire the most fibers at once. Notice how fast powerlifters bring down the bar? Also, a period of rest for a "Stretch" is a period of lessoned growth stimulation on various levels. Two are: A) Less worked preformed over more time = lower mathmatical intensity. B) A rest period will allow previously fatigued fibers to recover, which ultimately leads to a lower total percentage of the msucle being activated for a given set. Oh well, why does anyone care what weights Arnold used? He prescribed to an outdated pattern of training. Beisdes, are you trying to be like Arnold, or be the best that YOU can be? -MO ------------------ | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 45 |
I am a big Arnold fan (obviously) and it is true that bodybuilding is more concerned with appearances than being able to lift large amounts of weights. Did you see the part when he is doing one arm dumbell curls? If I remember correctly, he isn't using a whole lot of weight in that exercise either. He is more focused on the pump than curling 120 pound dumbbells. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 172 |
it matters how you look not what you lift. ------------------ | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 553 |
First off I want to clear up some things about Pumping Iron. I know the movie very well, infact I doubt anyone on this board knows it as well as me. Now that I'm done tooting my own horn (sorry) I want to clear this up. -The plates are 45's -Lou was pressing 225 on the standing military presses, he then added 10 lbs to each side making the total 245. -Ed and Arnold were squatting 315. -Arnold would workout with upwards of 400 lbs on squats, and claimed to do 425 lbs for REPS on bench press. -I do more weight on T-bar rows then arnold was doing in the video. -When looking at the weights they used keep in mind their rep base was usually over 10, unlike today when most of us train around 8 reps. ------------------ | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 23 |
Good post...I will have to say that I actually learned some things...I thought I knew pretty much all there was to know, but I never truly payed that close of attention to rep speed etc...So thanks, Mean One. I also am a Pumping Iron Addict. I have seen that movie so many times, I think I can quote it from begining to end, and sing all the songs. Those are the best! (My copy also has Arnold smoking a joint at the end, when they are celebrating...Rumor has it, that He had that part cut out on the newer versions...not sure if it is true or not.) I do agree with everything that The Blond Myth said, that is how it happens on the video. However, we dont know where in his workout Arnold and Ed are. That could be their burnout set, for all we know. That is how most of the movie is laid out. The only workout session that starts from the begining is when Lou and his dad worked out by themselves. I also am a big fan of Lou. I didnt know he was an a**hole, hopefully it was a bad day. In fact, I prefer to look like the classic bodybuilders than the freaks nowdays, but I do think its pretty cool. Dorian and some of the others look like Stuck Pigs or Silverback Gorillias...to each his own ~Peace ------------------ | ||
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Elite Bodybuilder
Posts: 754 |
the weight is not as imprtent as the form in budybuilding. ------------------ | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 440 |
Mean one I hear ya. I train that way myself. I have grown more since I started doing less sets with more intensity. I've always been an Arnold fan myself but I have seen him employing all different styles of training. He varied it a lot, sometimes he would go really heavy ie. donkey calves with a full stack and three people on his back and sometimes he would show more control, even going light. He would experiment a lot to try and stay on top. What I would add is Arnold was very secretive and would play tricks on his competitors so I wouldn't take all of Pumping Iron as exactly how he trained. He knew other guys would see the footage and wouldn't want to give away all of his secrets now, would he? A bit like the pros of today I suppose. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 211 |
yes, and look out for "Pumping Iron II:Ronnie's Revenge" |
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posted December 11, 2000 07:03 AM
