"I Put Aside My Pride, and I Listened to Him" - Arnold Schwarzenegger Reflects on Life-Changing Advice from Reg Park

A young Arnold Schwarzenegger knew how to train his muscles, but he didn’t know everything about it. Schwarzenegger built his symmetrical physique after some advice from legendary bodybuilder Reg Park, specifically about his calves.

Young blood tends to have more ego, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was no different, as his Mr. Universe triumph was fueling the ego. So when Park made him aware of his weaker calves, Schwarzenegger didn’t appreciate it.

Arnold Schwarzenneger said about the same in a newsletter:

"When I went to train with my hero, Reg Park, he pulled out a tape measure and measured my calves and my biceps. He said, 'Arnold, your calves are 19 inches and your biceps are 21 inches. You might win Mr. Universe like this, but you’ll never go all the way. You need to build up your calves. Every step you take is a 250 pound calf raise. So to grow, you are going to have to go as heavy as possible, and you’re going to need to do 10-15 sets every single day.'"

However, it’s wise to listen to the legends of the game if you want to move to the next level. Schwarzenegger followed Park’s advice, saying:

"It rattled my cage so much because I was young and at first I thought, 'I’m a Mr. Universe, why is he giving me a beating?'" Schwarzenegger recalled.

He added:

"I put aside my pride, and I listened to him. I trained the hell out of my calves. I was loading the calf raise machine up to 700 pounds, doing 15 sets every day. I was hitting them with donkey raises with half the bodybuilders in the gym on my back. I left no stone unturned. I was relentless. I trained like Reg Park told me to, and the results were exactly what he said they would be: My calves were 21 inches and because of that, my body was much more symmetrical.”

It goes without saying that Schwarzenegger had a phenomenal physique during his peak days. He worked out for five hours a day and bagged several championships such as Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Calves Routine

You might not be able to build calves like “The Oak” overnight, but there’s nothing against trying the workout to build some mighty calves. Calves are a fairly smaller muscle group compared to the rest of the legs, so they require intense exercise to push the fibers.

Arnold Schwarzenegger says that it was Reg Park’s training regime that helped him build his 210inch calves. Here is what he did to build the muscle group:

1) Donkey calf raises

2) Seated calf raises

3) Standing calf raises

4) Leg press calf raises

Arnold Schwarzenegger would do up to six sets of 10-20 reps for each exercise, and would go as heavy as possible. Reg Park advised him to go as heavy as 1,000lbs, but Schwarzenegger warns that it’s not useful unless you can get full stretches with that weight.

He would use weights that were heaviest for him but enabled a full range of motion. When he finally reached a point where a full range of motion wasn’t achievable, he would focus on the finisher set with half the reps that pushed his muscles to complete failure.

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Bottom Line

When Arnold Schwarzenegger started working out, he wanted to be a professional bodybuilder. You may not want have the build of a bodybuilder but would like a great set of calf muscles.

It that's your goal, you should focus on range of motion, working your calves at least twice a week, and remember to always keep your ego aside.