Gym closed? Schwarzenegger shares his home workout tips

Gyms around Australia have closed their doors amid the escalating coronavirus crisis – but that doesn’t mean you have to skimp on your workout, even if you’re stuck at home in self-isolation.

Just ask Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has shared a simple yet effective 'shelter at home' workout plan: no gym equipment required.

"Body weight, or freehand, training is the oldest method in the world," the legendary 'Austrian Oak' says. “You don’t need a gym to be fit. I started my own fitness journey with chin-ups on a tree branch by a lake in Austria."

Schwarzenegger details the plan on the Reddit social community, building it around nine movements, most of which require no equipment, while the rest can be done with household items like a chair. 

So whether you’re just starting your fitness journey or looking for something more advanced, here’s what Arnie recommends:

“You can do this every other day and it will cover all of your muscle groups,” he says.

The repetitions can be broken up into more manageable sets – such as five sets of five reps, if an exercise lists 25 reps – as the most important thing is to do the exercises correctly, rather than endlessly.

Starting slow

“If you’ve never worked out, spend your first few workouts just getting used to the movements,” suggests the former Mr Universe. “Don’t feel bad about working your way up to the full workout – we all start somewhere.”

Over time, adjust the number of repetitions of each exercise as your strength and tolerance develops – such as increasing from five sets of five reps to four sets of six or seven reps – before eventually moving up to the advanced workout.

“We’ll get through this together, and hopefully, we’ll all emerge in a few weeks fitter than ever,” Arnie adds.

If you’re unfamiliar with these workouts, Schwarzenegger has also posted a series of photos showing how they’re done: just note that the name of each workout appears underneath the image, rather than above.

Also read: 12 easy exercises you can do anywhere in the world

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.