Arnold Schwarzenegger has a message for anyone just going through the motions at the gym. The six-time Mr. Olympia is frustrated with beginners who chase rep counts instead of intensity.

“I’ve told you about how I feel when I see people doing half reps or cheating on their exercises. This is different. These people are doing the full motion. 3 sets of 10 reps of a full stretch and a flex. Their problem isn’t cheating themselves. It’s that their tenth rep looks just like their first rep. Easy,” said Arnold on his X handle.

According to Florida Atlantic University research published in the Sports Medicine journal, individuals wanting to build muscle should work within a desired range of 0-5 reps short of failure in order to do so while minimizing the chance of injury.

"A study showed that mechanical tension is the primary driver of muscle growth. Not motion. Not sweat. Tension. If the reps are easy, the muscle has no reason to change. The muscle grows only when the load forces it to fight for every inch."

Arnold was talking about a study published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, conducted by STRCNG Incorporated OA Jeff Nippard, Fitness, and Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University. Their research listed proximity to failure as a highly important factor for muscle growth.

Schwarzenegger also offered a second tip for accelerating muscle growth.

Arnold Schwarzenegger High Intensity Workouts

Rather than sticking to the old-school approach of hammering around a single movement, Schwarzenegger advocates for high-intensity circuit training.

“High-intensity circuit training builds just as much muscle and strength as traditional lifting — but in nearly 30 percent less time,” Schwarzenegger wrote on his Instagram.

Arnold’s claim is backed by research. An eight-week study on trained women found that both circuit training and traditional lifting delivered similar results despite identical training volume. The only difference was that the circuit group performed back-to-back exercises with 5 minute rest in between.

The result: both groups had equal improvements, muscle gain, and fat loss, but the stark difference was that the circuit group spent 25 minutes less in the gym each session.

Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar