He no longer has the biceps he used to, but at 75 Arnold Schwarzenegger is still taking his training seriously, like any of his 4 million Instagram followers, 5.9 million on TikTok or more than 400,000 subscribers to his newsletter. workouts.
And train as much for health and longevity as for muscle maintenance. But if anyone knows which gym moves are really effective, it’s him.
In our cover interview for the July issue of Men’s Health, Schwarzenegger reveals his favorite exercise of all time: “If you do a clean with a barbell press, it covers everything.”
It’s not exactly a typical bodybuilder move, but it’s worth mastering. Combining a “pull” motion and a “push” motion, the clean and press can help you add strength and size to your arms, abs, shoulders, back, and legs. It’s also challenging enough to get your heart pumping blood, increasing your cardiovascular fitness, while honing the kind of functional strength.
You can perform the move with a barbell, dumbbell, or weight. Start with a light weight and gradually add more kilos.
How to do barbell clean and press
Stand with the bar with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart. Keeping your back straight and your shoulders back and down, squat down to grab the bar with a strong grip and arms straight.
In one quick motion, pull the bar up while standing, keeping it close to your body; As the bar passes through your knees, shrug and pull the bar up hard, dropping under it. Grab the bar across your shoulders with your elbows high and squat down.
Push up through your heels and extend your arms to press the bar overhead, locking your arms at the top.
Lower safely onto your shoulders and drop to the floor while maintaining a straight back at all times.
Scarlett Wrench is the Senior Editor at Men’s Health UK.
With more than 12 years’ experience as a health and lifestyle editor, Scarlett has a keen interest in new science, emerging trends, mental well-being, and food and nutrition. For Men’s Healthshe has carried out extensive research into areas such as wellness in the workplace, male body image, the paradoxes of modern masculinity, and mental health among school-age boys.
Her words have also appeared in Women’s Health, Runner’s World and Sunday Times.
