Arnold Schwarzenegger quite literally wrote the book on building strength and muscle—ever heard of the Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding?—and in his daily newsletter, he regularly shares insights and advice on how to stay motivated and consisted so you can get the most out of your training.
In a recent edition, the Men’s Health cover star offered readers his strategy for putting together workouts that can fit easily into a busy schedule, be performed either at the gym or at home depending on your needs, and can also increase in intensity to help you progress.
Forget churning out endless reps and spending hours racking and unracking weights. All you need for an effective workout, Schwarzenegger explains, is just five exercises. The catch? Each individual exercise must correspond to a certain type of movement: squat, push, pull, hinge, and carry.
All you have to do is select an exercise in each category, and you can choose your own exercises based on personal preference and required difficulty level. For instance:
- Squat: Bodyweight squats, leg presses, goblet squats, rear foot elevated split squats.
- Pull: TRX rows, seated machine rows, dumbbell single arm row, inverted (bodyweight) row, pullups.
- Hinge: Hip thrust/hip raise, Straight leg deadlift, band good morning, kettlebell swing.
- Push: Incline pushups, machine chest press, standing band chest press, dumbbell chest press.
- Carry: Farmer carry, suitcase carry.
“If you’re short on time, superset the first four movements into two pairs and perform them back-to-back, resting as little as possible between sets,” says Schwarzenegger. “After doing the first pair, rest for 2 minutes and repeat the first two exercises. Follow this pattern until all sets are done, and then move to the next exercise pair.”
As an example that can be completed at home with no gym equipment, Schwarzenegger suggests a superset of bodyweight squat and bodyweight inverted row, followed by a superset of hip raise and incline pushup, ending on a carrying movement using a loaded backpack.
“You can perform this plan 3 to 4 times per week,” he says. “Start with just 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps each. Rest 2 minutes after you complete a set or superset. As you build confidence and conditioning, add 1 to 2 more sets. If you really want to push the pace, combine all five exercises into one giant circuit.”
Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
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