Customer Reviews

Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder

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The book is an autobiography of Arnold, up through the mid-70s. It is interesting to be inside the mind of a super-athlete such as Schwarzenegger. He conveys how and why he rose to become what many believe to be the greatest bodybuilder of all-time. He writes about many of the distractions of the early days -- girls, school, parental disaproval, a year of army duty -- and how he dealt with these and managed to stay focused on his dream to be the best at the sport.

Within five years he became Mr. Universe. He perservered to become more than just a great bodybuilder. He became a superstar. After he had beat every other bodybuilder of his time, he decided to do away with competing and accomplish his next set of goals. He went into acting, and as we all know, became an international moviestar. In addition he went into the promotion side of bodybuilding, running competions such as Mr. Olympia, Mr. Universe, and of course, the Arnold Classic. He also set up many gyms in several countries.

The second half of the book is a rough guide on how to begin a progressive resistance program, additional motivational advice, nutrition and the like.

Throughout the book he demonstrates the many benifits he obtained from bodybuilding -- optimal health, discipline, mind control, etc. Basically, I found it very inspirational to read. However, I would suggest not to solely rely on the information in the second half for workout planning. Though it is good information, it is somewhat brief, and it is WHAT WORKED FOR HIM. Everyone varies in their response to weight training (i.e. how quickly their muscles grow) due to genetic predispositions, such as natural metabolism level, and and I would suggest getting additional, more comprehensive information, such as Gold's Gym Mass Building Training and Nutrition System, or check your local bookstore and do some browsing through the selection to see what appeals to your interest.

When I finished my first year of college, I had dropped to 135 pounds (at 6 feet and 2 inches...more than 100 pounds lighter than Arnold and the same height). I was over motivated in my studies of chemistry in a premedicine curriculum and finished that first year exhausted with mononucleosis but with a 4.0 average.

But, I decided I would take a different strategy my second year of college. I bought this book (the summer of 1979) and studied it carefully. Here's what happened...

I spent the summer resting and then started school at 145 pounds. I determined to follow the book to the letter (even the going to bed and getting up at the same time...which doesn't make for the best social life for a college sophomore). I also watched my thoughts carefully and practiced some of the techniques that Arnold suggests as well as experimented with a few of my own.

When I finished that school year, I weighed 198 pounds and still sported a 29 inch wasit. People who saw me the summer after my second year of college who hadn't seen me since the previous summer, sometimes didn't recognize me.

I gained 53 to 63 pounds of muscle in one year (depending on when you start counting) and did it eating the diet described in this book. I even started with 6 weeks on the non-weights/calesthenic routine before lifting the weights. Then I spent the rest of the year doing the "beginner" routine. Oh, I didn't touch any anabolic steriods but supplemented with brewer's yeast, descicted liver, vitamin C, and Bee Pollen.

I took to heart the advice about record keeping and about eating at the same time with strict adherence to the diet recommended.

Now, at the age of 45, I still train almost daily, and still use some of the techniques I learned from this book (and teach them to my patients). Still have the 6-pack (though my sons joke with me when I blur out to a "4-pack" and start telling me to get in shape).

Here are some of the points that have been especially helpful...
1. Always leave yourself a little hungry when it comes to exercise (stop before you would like so you want to come back the next day). But, when in the gym train very intensely.
2. Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate (it helps intensity and forces growth).
3. Don't let anywone get in the way of your most improtant dreams.
4. Eat and go to bed at the same time daily as much as possible (the body thrives on regularity).
5. Keep records. The records motivate you.
6. Use strict form.

My oldest son's hormones just kicked in (turned 13) and so I bought him this book (still have my old copy, but it's a trophy now that's torn and stained with sweat from 20 years ago and it's not for loan). I think men should celebrate their strength and their intelligence at whatever level nature has allowed them. In this book, Arnold teaches the development of brain and brawn.

Having followed Arnold (like many others) since he was more of a cult hero, it came as no surprise that he would gain a position of power and responsibility. In this book, he teaches the focus that made him a success in and out of the gym. This book helped me gain and maintain the health that I have now at age 45 (so that I might inspire my patients) and helped me go through medical school and grow stronger and healtier along the way.

Thank you Arnold...here's to you!!

Charles Runels, MD
Author of "Anytime...for as Long as You Want: Strength, Genius, Libido, & Erection by Integrative Sex Transmutation."

Actually, Arnold wrote this book long before his Hollywood career took off. He tells an honest story about his life and career as a bodybuilder back in a time when bodybuilding was considered strange and obscure. Arnold helped shatter all the myths and stereotypes about the sport and realistically tells us how gruelling and demanding the sport really is. He is correct in accessing that certain body types have a better chance at succeeding while others have many obstacles to overcome. Sheer muscle mass is only part of the sport. Just as important is definition and symmetry. Arnold was blessed with just about perfect body symmetry so he was a natural. This doesn't mean he didn't work hard. In fact you'll gather inspiration as you read about him always pushing himself and striving to do better. Arnold is also not shy about some of the seedier elements that were around at the time he was in competition. Promises of contracts, endorsements, and money could disappear as fast as the unscrupulous businessman who took advantage of them. This is a great book about a great man and brought bodybuilding the dignity it deserves.

When this book was first released in the late 1970s, Arnold had yet to embark on a serious movie career, with only the starring role in "Pumping Iron" under his belt, and that being a limited success at that, playing only in art cinema houses and in limited distribution. It was long before his actual starring role in "Conan" (which had been rumored for years in bodybuilding circles before it finally came to fruition in the early 1980s. So it is interesting to read of the specificity of his plans and his supreme confidence in himself and his ability to succeed at anything he chooses in this well-scribed ghostwritten autobiography published long before.

Those of us who had become familiar with Arnold and his progress in the public domain knew the world was hardy prepared for this steamroller of a human being, a man for whom the normal rules simply do not seem to apply. Other famous bodybuilders had tried to use their muscles and brawn to jump-start a Hollywood career, and although several such as Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott had been major stars in action films during the 1960s, neither was able to translate what was in actuality a brief spurt of public interest in men with superior physiques into a sustaining career.

Yet from the beginning there was something about Arnie that defied the rules other mortals belabored under. Using the modest investment cash gained from the sale of his small gym in Munich to start himself, Schwarzenegger bought an apartment building and soon bought more property, growing up into the booming California real estate market in a way that propelled him into the ranks of the wealthy long before he ever read a movie script. Similarly, he and bodybuilding buddy Franco Columbo started a masonry business in Santa Monica, putting their brains and brawn to active work, and raking in the resulting financial dividends, reinvesting them to make the money work as hard as they did. This was no ordinary muscleman, and indeed, no ordinary young man. As George Butler reveals in his book "Arnold Schwarzenegger: A Portrait", Arnold was more focused and driven than anyone he had ever been introduced to.

Instead, what we are treated to here is the real man behind all of the miscalculations and misrepresentations of the media, a man extremely driven to succeed in America, and willing to make the sacrifices to do it. Many people have underestimated him, only to find out later that there is much more to the man than an Austrian accent and a huge bicep. If a guy with a last name like Schwarzenegger can so beguile the public to become one of the biggest movie stars of the 1980s and 1990s, than perhaps we do have to recognize that America is still the land of opportunity. The latest rumblings have him interested once more in running for political office, most likely for the Governorship in California. Yet it is perhaps too soon to assume he is finished as a movie star. He is currently filming "T-3', the third of the Terminator movies, and has plans to also make a third Conan epic. If either of those is a big a success as is possible, than perhaps he will stick around for a while. And for those of you that think he is to old to look like Conan in his mid fifties, just remember, those who underestimate this guy are usually wrong. Enjoy!

Arnold is a very gifted motivator. He can easily inspire anyone to change their lifestyle on the spot. He could demand that you don't eat donuts to improve your health and you would stop eating them. How does somebody do that? Here in `Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder" you get 130 pages of everything you could ever want to know about what makes Arnold tick, right up until his 1970 IFBB Mr.Olympia three titles in one year grand slam. If you are looking for a complete modern biography with his films and political achievements, then you may want to go elsewhere, but this book is from the horse's mouth about how he got famous in the first place. I wouldn't doubt much of what is written as it is not too outlandish and has tons of supporting photographs that document his historical record. Some of his peak measurements are a little bit embellished but that is only cribbing when you get into the mind of the Austrian Oak. Arnold's first visit to the gym is always a great story to hear again, about how he felt weights for the first time and the pain of training to failure. This book has some really early photographs of Arnold at 16, 17, 18 and 19 that show his progress. Yes he was gifted, but he used his gifts and he used them well. He describes how even his cop dad and worrying mother tried to desperately talk him out of bodybuilding and how Arnold developed his own psychological conditioning that many people confused with some sort of psychopathology. This was at a time when bodybuilding was looked down upon and that people who trained that way where called freaks and where believed to be muscle-bound. Arnold talks about his early life with his bodybuilding friends, how he lost his faith in God, put faith in himself instead, how he disciplined his lifestyle, his early love life, how we treated women, what he did at school, how he discovered his idol Reg Park, how he become an army tank driver, how he spent some time in a military prison, how he trained at home, his first contest and how we won, the media's response, his first sponsorship disaster, the homosexuals who tried to seduce him, his first job as a gym manager, his routines, his first plane trip to compete, meeting his idols, his training partners, his business partner Joe Weider and what he did to make it to the top. It is all here and is as every bit as inspirational as you could hope it would be. If you have any doubts about what you can do, then this book will iron them out for you and get you in the mood for more. There are photographs in this book that you will not find elsewhere but if you have his "Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" then you will find a few photographs that are shared between the two, but I was still surprised at how many photographs here I have never seen before. The stuff with Arnold as a teenager is absolutely mind blowing. His biceps are like basketballs. If it is inspiration you want then I can not recommend this book enough. The eye candy is astonishing. Well over 100 photographs in here, although in black and white, it doesn't matter because the muscle definition looks better that way.

The book does have a downside that you will only learn with experience the hard way or by luck of having someone tell you certain truths that you probably don't want to hear, but should. For 100-130 pages it is all about Arnold and that is great but the remaining 100 page about how to get big like Arnold are to be ignored. The best muscle building information is on pages 87-91 when he talks about power lifting with Franco Columbu but not in enough detail to teach you how to make gains. The problem with the last 100 pages is that the form is absolutely terrible. There are exercises in this book that are no longer used by modern bodybuilding because of the dangers involved. I also own "Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding", another absolutely brilliantly inspirational book that is 800 pages of dedicated bodybuilding information. I could not recommend them enough but not without these serious warning attached plus that fact that back in the 60s and 70s these guys where all doing steroids in huge quantities, consuming muscle enhancing drugs to boost up their already gifted physiques and genetics. We are not like these people and their training methods do not work for us. Arnold does tell you that it is best to bulk up first and then shape the body but when it comes to explaining how this is done both "Arnold" and "Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" miss the mark and instead introduce you to hundreds of exercises that are not for bulking up, some of which are so dangerous it is hard to imagine they are still in print today. Arnold does give you some of the right ideas though, like progressive weight training resistance (which he never actually teaches in the end), which should be done with the big three lifts (Squats, Deadlifts and Bench presses), with lots of recovery time (do these exercises only two times a week max, once a week is a lot, sometimes once every two weeks is better), rather than his twice a day working out routine. Countless trainees never make it because they don't understand how different people like Arnold are to us and how much drugs they used. I know I should not pitch other books here but I think I should because the form in this book is too bad to be left the way it is. Personally I would recommend that you look for a writer called Stuart McRobert and read his "The Insider's Tell-all handbook on Weight Training Technique" for form and the right exercises to do and his other book "Brawn" which describes various progressive lifting principles with the big three lifts and how to recovery properly. I mean I will always go back to Arnold's tomes for the inspiration but when it comes to doing it right, go elsewhere, and do take that advice. Overall this is an amazing book. Shame it doesn't go past 1970 but the documentary movie "Pumping Iron" seems to cover that before Arnie hits the movies. Guess we just need to watch the bonus materials in his films to find out what happened next. I am not complaining. Arnold all the way.
*Updates*
- The metabolic diet at the end of the book is not bad, eating six times a day is healthy, but it is a gainers diet. Cut back on some of the fatty parts of each meal when you want to loose fat.

I received this book in 1980 when I was fifteen years old. The funny thing is, I don't really remember how it came to me. Did I receive it as a gift? Did I buy it? I don't really remember, all I remember is that I owned a copy of this book and it really changed my life.

I didn't have too many male influences in my life at the time. My dad during this time in my life was kind of absent. He was there physically, but not emotionally. I know now that he was still grieving the loss of my mother that had happened five years earlier, but when I was fifteen, I had no idea. I just thought and felt like I was somehow a burden in his life. When I was fifteen I was kinduv gawky. Think of Napoleon Dynamite without the glasses and the curly hair. I was 6'tall and weighed a whopping 105lbs....106 lbs if I didn't go to the bathroom that day. I was constantly teased and taunted about how skinny I was. I remember wanting to dig a hole in the backyard and not coming out of it until I was "really old" like 25...

But somehow this book appeared in my life and it was like I was given something magical. I literally "devoured" it. Maybe that's why I was so thin, I ate books rather than protein. But after reading it I decided that I wanted to workout. I had perfect symmetry. My arms, my chest, and my legs were all 13" around. So, I dragged out my dad's old weight bench and his barbells and dumbells and started working out with the advice I got from this book. At first, I worked out in secret. I didn't want to hear anything negative. I was so fragile. Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally, as well. The slightest comment could send me into a tailspin. So I worked out as soon as I got home from school when I knew I would be alone for at least two hours. Before working out I would just lay on the workout bench with my eyes closed and I just imagined myself being in great shape. In my mind I would "hear" people telling me how great I looked, how strong I had become, how "buffed" I was. I was visualizing my desired outcome even before I knew anything about visualizing. And when I had completed my little "mind trip" I started working out and I always seemed to have really great workouts. I mean, I had fun. It seemed like every workout I was getting stronger and stronger. In no time at all, I went from 105 lbs to 135 lbs. Other people began to notice changes in me. I noticed changes, as well. I seemed more confident and more relaxed. For the first time in my life, people actually wanted me on their teams in P.E. What was that all about? It felt great, but it also felt weird.

I kept reading this book and anything else that had to do with Arnold, Frank Zane, and Dennis Tinnerino(my favorite bodybuilders at the time). I finally let people in on my "secret" that I was working out. I joined a real gym when I was 16 and got even more results. But I noticed that I was no longer having fun working out. I almost made it like an obsession. I felt like I had to workout. I had to improve. I had to get better than I was previously. If for some reason I felt tired one day and didn't want to workout, I made myself feel like a loser because of it. I became really hyper-critical of myself and my efforts. At 18, I felt I had reached the "end of the road" of what I could do naturally and so I started taking steroids. I got really strong and really big really fast but I noticed that I was always angry and always upset. I really never put the two together.

A few months before my 22nd birthday, I had what some call an emotional breakdown but what I like to now term as an emotional breakthrough. I stopped taking steroids and immediately I saw myself getting smaller and weaker. All the gains I had made seemed to vanish overnight and I became even more depressed. I wanted to kill myself and I actually attempted suicide. I swallowed over 60 sleeping pills and drank a 750ml bottle of vodka, when I came to and I realized that my plan failed I became even more despondent.

And then about a few months later I was sitting in my dad's garage and I saw this book sitting in a box of other things that were mine and I looked at it and just smiled. I remembered how I loved to workout just because. I didn't have some magnificent obsession other than just wanting to workout. I read Arnold's book again and even though I must've read his words about training the mind twenty times before, nothing seemed to stick but somehow this time they grabbed hold of me and I had a realization that the body is absolutely nothing without the mind...without the soul...without the spirit...and it dawned on me that what the mind can believe, the body will acheieve. The body is simply a vehicle that the mind uses. And so I started working out again, but this time the focus was on having fun and enjoying the process. I didn't want to be a competitive bodybuilder. I wanted to be in great shape and look good with my shirt off, but I had no desire to stand up on stage in my underwear doing all kinds of poses and once I defined my focus, I began immediately getting into better and better shape.

But not only did I apply this "mind stuff" to working out, I applied it to every area of my life. And it worked in those areas, as well! You see, what makes Arnold such a genius is that he has focus and determination. He has natural gifts and abilities, but he uses them. We all have gifts and talents and abilities but instead of capitalizing on them, we say, "Oh, if only I won the lottery..." We won the lottery the day we were born. We had about a one in a seven billion chance of being the people we are today. Talk about odds!

People think that Arnold is lucky and that he had all the "breaks". Y'know what I am beginning to understand more and more? We make our own luck...we create our own breaks...there is nothing against us...EVER! We must learn to use our minds in the right way. We must envision successful results. I was a 15 year old kid and I was imagining myself getting results and I did! I had no idea what I was doing and yet it worked! The question is not whether or not will vision create an outcome, the question is, what kind of vision are we holding? Because whatever our vision is, we will receive an outcome that is in alignment with our mental image.

I urge you to buy this book. Hey, I don't like Arnold as Governor, either. But I still admire his tenacity, his determination, and his focus. He truly is a great success story...

Arnold swartzeneger was the greatest bodybuilder of this
century ,maybe of all time.This book is an account of
his drive to be number one in the sport of body building.
The first half of the book depicts arnolds life story. The
second half is on weightlifting exercises for bodybuilders,
as well as the ins and outs of competitive bodybuilding,(tans, music, posing and what foods to eat).
At age 16, After I read the first half of this book ,i was so
psyched by arnolds story that I studied over his routines in the second half into the night! I joined a gym the following week! I've bought many weightlifting books since then but i always at some time refer back to this book for motivation and the basics.
This book is well written and has clear instructions for the exercises. This would be a great buy for the for adolescent
boy or girl in your life!

**Since two books are being reviewed, I'm posting reviews on each book.

I happened to decide to read some self-help type books because like everyone else, I hit a stagnating point in my career and wanted to read about how some of these purportedly self-made successful authors achieved success in life. By some strange coincidence, I read Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder" then TimothyFerriss's "The 4-Hour Workweek" in succession, and though these two authors may seem an anachronism, the similarities of their central message, namely, how they were able to achieve their dream lifestyle are exactly the same. Only the techniques and philosophical underpinnings differ.

Timothy Ferriss and 4WW as already reviewed on this page, advocates much of the platitudes written by other self-help authors such as life is short, do not spend every day in a job you hate to buy things you do not need, follow the Pareto 80/20 principle, etc. Of course the most interesting aspect is the notion of outsourcing the repetitive, low level work in your own business pursuits much like the big corporations are doing now to maximize your free time to pursue the things you enjoy, like the "mini-retirements" Ferriss takes regularly to all the exotic places that we all enviously wish we could do. I think this is really the core of the book and is why the book achieved such popularity in such a short time. The world has truly become flat, and the threats and discordance of an increasingly globalized world and outsourced workforce underlies all of us who occupy the once exalted white-collar job. Ferriss masterfully targets this underlying fear and concern, by turning it around and telling the Reader that you can fight back by doing the same think the big companies are doing to you, by utilizing the same technologies and outsourcing techniques, such that eventually you'll be able to kick back in a hammock with a drink in you hand, and in the other a laptop or cell phone with wireless Internet access to run your outsourced business in some exotic location like Tahiti or something, that the book cover depicts so well.

On Arnold, what can I say that has not already been written and talked about the man? To me and many others, he is the very embodiment and walking, living example of what all the self-help books advocate especially on topics like setting goals and visualizations. In the auto-biographical book, Arnold talks about how when he was 15 years old, he came upon bodybuilding and realized that "my life, the answer I'd been seeking. It clicked. It was something I suddenly just seemed to reach out and find, as if I'd been crossing a suspended bridge and finally stepped off onto solid ground." The first half of the book describes the single-minded determination, persistence and hard work he subjected himself to, to achieve his goal of becoming the greatest bodybuilder of all time, then parlaying that success as the foundation to achieve his other goals of becoming a successful businessman, actor and leader. It chronicles his life and achievements from the age of 15 to about 22 when he won the greatest bodybuilding competition, the Mr. Olympia for the first time. Reading this section really allows you to get a first hand account of the mindset Arnold had to achieve the great levels of success he was able to achieve and is eye-opening and invaluable. The second half describes exercises and diets you can do to achieve your own physical goals. While this section may be dated by recent advances in knowledge about strength training, and be biased to people like Arnold with great genetic, physical, nutritional and drug enhanced abilities, you can still benefit from his advices about regularity, dedication and sustained efforts required to obtain that six-pack ab, muscular biceps and of course good health.

Now, what I found so uncanny was the similarities of both authors, in that Ferriss is 29, and found great success in running a business in an innovated way, and used that success to write a best selling book on his first try. Likewise, Arnold was around 29 when he wrote and published his book, and used his great physical presence and huge success in a relatively unknown and marginalized sport of professional bodybuilding to publish a best selling book on his first try. Also, both men are savvy marketers and self-promoters and used those abilities shamelessly to catapult their first time published books to best seller status on their first try. Ferris from what I've read on his blog, used exactly that, his blog and Internet presence to build an audience long before the book was published and also by ensuring he got connected to other best selling authors and learning from them and using their connections to make sure his book would get published and read by a large audience. In another biography I read on Arnold, when the publishers of his book told him he would need to go a 10 city book tour, his response was "why only 10 cities, why not 50 cites", because he understood that to get his book sold and read by a large audience he had to get the word out.

But where the similarities end, the differences are quite pronounced. Though I do admire Ferriss and his marketing savvy, and his ability to articulate his agenda in an intelligent, if somewhat shallow way, I can't help but a feeling that his methods do not have long term viability. In addition, somewhat like Arnold, he's big on his athletic achievements but many seem exaggerated, and many if from what I've read online are unsubstantiated. Arnold, on the other hand, does not need to exaggerate anything, as he won the greatest bodybuilding championship 7 times, was at one time the highest paid actor, has made millions not only from acting, but owning real estate, a publishing company, restaurants and even leases a 747 airplane to southeast Asian countries, and is now governor of California, America's largest economy. His success and track record are for real, and when you read in his book about the psychological attitude he utilized such as goal setting and visualization and the use of good old fashion hard work, determination and perseverance, he never advocates a get quick success scheme.

In all fairness to Ferriss, he understands well the need for a catchy title and book cover and the frustrations of all the corporate cogs stuck in their Dilbertesque cubicles and to bank on their frustrations of now only working a dull and frustration job for long hours, but having that very job be outsourced to another country! And despite the ease with which he makes it all sound, there was much planning, strategic surveying, and persistent hard work to get his book and the image surrounding it to sell as well as it has. I think if anything, you can learn a great deal from how he got to where he is, and is in fact the very kind of traits Arnold talks about in his book that lead him to his success.

Not to berate the general attitude of this great country, but I think America has too much of a mentality of quick fixes and gains. Don't like your physical appearance, just to do plastic surgery or suck the fat out with liposuction. Likewise, all the get rich schemes too many to mention that permeate our national psyche. Reading how an immigrant like Arnold Schwarzenegger achieve his success with a positive attitude, gold old fashion hard work, determination, persistence, setting objective and attainable goals resonates with me much more deeply, especially since my parents are in his same age range and immigrated to this country with nothing and achieved success using his principles.

In conclusion, while I find Ferriss's book a bit gimmicky and shallow in details of how he achieved his lifestyle, it is still a worthwhile read and though many could claim much of his advice is common sense, if we all lived life utilizing true common sense intelligence, wouldn't we be all successful? Arnold's suggestions are to set clear and objective goals, visual yourself achieving success, and working hard everyday to achieve your vision. What could be more common sense?

Both books are worthwhile reads, but if you had to choose one, I'd pick Arnold's any day. His successful record speaks for itself.

-Don Kim

An excellant book! Although you'll hear alot of so called modern day experts put his methods of training down as outdated or obsolete. Most of them dont have a clue. His programs will have ANYONE reach the level they desire as long as they are followed properly. If it's bodybuilding you want this is the way to do it and most of all you dont have to second guess your self looking for some secret or some new method that may be effective but will not be no where near as effective.

This book goes into the mind of a champion in great detail that can be carried over into any sport. That in it's own right makes a worthwhile read. You can not be disappointed and if you do as he say's you too just might become a champion as well.

My twin brother and I read this book in 1978, when we were about 6'2" tall, and no more than 150 pounds. Within months, we must have gained at least 25 pounds in muscle. Within a couple of years, we were hooked on weight-lifting, and have not let-up since.
Not only is it an interesting and inspirational biography of a fascinating life, but indeed, the later chapters prove to be an invaluable guide for exercising and building muscle. There are a lot of "progressive" exercise regimens coming-out all the time, with variations on how many sets to do, how many reps, how long to rest between sets, which exercises are best, but you know what? Sometimes sticking with the basics are the best, and the so-called progressive regimens are just attempts to re-invent the wheel.
Besides, who you gonna take advice on weight-lifting and reaching lofty goals from----no-name, so-called "experts," or someone who has proven himself, like Arnold?!