How I Exploded My Chest to 58" -- Arnold Schwarzenegger (1968)

 

From This Issue, Oct. 1968. 

I'm guessing it wasn't C-4

and not Arnold writing. 

Whether you believe it or not, when I first became interested in bodybuilding, my chest was not very outstanding. It measured only 39 inches and looked very flat and sunken. 

After training for six months I noticed that my arms, shoulders, back and legs showed good improvement but my chest, especially the pectoral muscles, showed little if any improvement. Naturally I was disappointed about this. 

I asked my instructor's advice(s). He explained that I had to concentrate on two things: the expansion of the thorax (rib box), and the development of the pectoral muscles. I suddenly realized that I had been only working on my chest muscles and not my rib box, which I now realize is responsible for bigger chests. 

About this time I found and read a copy of a German athletic magazine . . . 

In this magazine there was an article that stressed the importance of expanding the thorax for maximum chest size. This article made me think, and as a result I made up a new training program with the idea of expanding my chest. 

I knew that if I could expand the size of my rib box . . . 

  

. . . my whole upper body would be bigger and look better. I decided to concentrate on the chest and decided on the routine I have outlined here. 

I included three basic exercises, namely: 

 - Bench Press

 - Dumbbell Exercise for Chest

 - Flying Movement

Today, five years after regular weight training, my chest has increased to 58 inches, representing an increase of nearly 20 inches! 

During this time my bodyweight increased by 88 pounds, but even with this added bodyweight and increased chest size my waistline did not get more than two inches larger, which isn't much. But this is because I worked hard to expand my chest and trained my abdomen to keep it small, and I think I have succeeded well in this. 

Of course, one of the main exercises I added to my chest routine was the stiff-arm pullover. This exercise has done much to increase the size of my thorax. In fact, during the first two-and-a-half years of my bodybuilding my chest increased to 47", then withing the next year-and-a-half it grew to 52", which is about the size it was when I first entered the Mr. Universe contest in London. 

With continuous training and following the chest program I give you here, I have succeeded in "exploding" it to my present size of 58 inches! I continue to use this same chest program even today. I don't know how much more my chest will expand but I will continue training and let the measurements take care of themselves. 

Though I speak of increasing the muscle mass of the chest, I must add that the biggest gain you can make in increasing chest size is by expanding the thorax. In fact, now every time I give an exhibition and show my chest the audience gives me the biggest round of applause, which to me is remarkable because when I started bodybuilding I had a very small, fallen chest. I am real proud of what I have achieved so far. 

While visiting South Africa as Reg Park's guest I discussed my chest program with him and asked his opinion of what I was doing. He said that he used the very same routine and showed me some of the exercises that developed his big chest, which to me is enormous. 

I just further add that this routine I have listed is not meant for beginners but for those who have been training regularly for a year or more. I am sure that if you follow this program and the advice I present here, I can almost guarantee an increase of five or more inches. 

It is also important that you do some pushups after doing deep knee bends to warm up the chest. Then, after the chest is warmed you can use the other chest expanding exercises illustrated in this article after doing squats.

While training the chest remember these five points and use them as guides: 

1) Don't train too slow.

2) Use heavy weights. 

3) Do all exercises correctly.

4) Concentrate on every set. 

5) Use a protein [ba-dump-bum] supplement.

I'm sure you'll have greater success in developing a bigger chest with this training routine. I wish you luck! 

Okay, okay . . . here's the best part of the article, some photos that aren't too well know yet . . . and no, there was no mention made of sets, reps, frequency, etc. in this one.   

Enjoy Your Lifting!