Recently I received an e-mail stating “Arnold was wrong”. An attention grabbing head line by a “training expert” who has been very successful web marketing information training athletes and others. My hats off to his success!
But was Arnold wrong? I believe chin ups was the exercise in question. Wrong in this instance meaning Arnold’s training methods were only by isolating certain muscle groups and doing several sets of different lifts to develop that group. Does this “expert” know as fact, other than what he heard from two other guys, Arnold did or didn’t do chin ups? My intuition tells me at some point Arnold did or does. Actually, it really does not matter!
Ultimately, this “expert” was attempting to get to the point of the value of training only with “multi-joint movements”. In the evolution of institutional strength training, the buzz words “multi-joint movements” or “functional strength” emerged at about the same time and is most beneficial in preparing multiple athletes, with constricted times restraints, to compete in athletic competition. Typically Olympic type lifts.
In speed and power training, there are legitimate reasons to isolate and develop specific muscle groups. Each athlete is different, some requiring specific, isolated muscle group weight training, [all athletes training for speed need to isolate and train their “sprinting engine”], different motor skill drills, sports position or specific event concentration. Perhaps they need all the above!
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