WHAT IS THE ARNOLD SPLIT?

The Arnold split is not for the fainthearted; it consists of training six days a week. If
you look online for Arnold Schwarzenegger's split or workout plan, you're bound to
see some conflicting information, but the consensus is that it's intense.
Let's have a look at the Arnold Blueprint for mass Phase One which is 4 weeks long,
produced by MusclePharm. This reference is related to their Arnold signature
supplements line, so we'll take it that this is similar to the true Arnold split.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Chest Shoulders Legs Chest Shoulders Legs Rest

Back Biceps Calves Back Biceps Calves
Abs Triceps Abs Abs Triceps Abs
Forearms Forearms
Abs Abs

Note: Arnold was also known for a brutal twice-a-day split that most people walking
this planet wouldn't be able to do. However, he did have the aid of some
performance enhancing substances. Keep in mind that during the 1970s, steroids
weren't illegal. They played a part in Arnold's success but even if you take steroids,
there's no guarantee you'll see results anywhere near what professional
bodybuilders accomplish, even with the Arnold split. It takes extreme dedication
and hard work to compete at the elite levels of modern bodybuilding.

ARNOLD SPLIT WORKOUT BREAKDOWN (EXERCISES BY

MUSCLE GROUPS FOR THE DAILY WORKOUTS ABOVE):
In Arnold's words, "the last three months before a competition you have to shock
the muscles, shock the muscle and shock the muscles with different training
principles. Expose your weak points. You're gonna go and hit those marks; then you
move the bar higher. Then you move the bar higher, and you feel that with hard
work, you can achieve the goals and you can become successful". He says the major
mistake bodybuilders make these days is that they aren't doing the basic exercises.
Rather than breaking down the Arnold workout plan by workout sessions, we will
look at the Arnold split based on each muscle group:
 Chest
 Back
 Biceps
 Triceps
 Shoulders
 Forearms
 Legs & Calves
 Abs

ARNOLD CHEST WORKOUT:

Days Exercise Sets Reps

Monday & Flat Barbell Bench Press 5 Week 1: 30,12,10,8,6

Thursday Incline Barbell Bench Press 5 Week 2: 30, 8, 6, 4, 2
Week 3: 30, 5,
Superset: Dumbbell Flys & DB 5
5,5,5,5,5
Pullover
Week 4: 20, 15, 12
Note: Incline change bench angles each week: Low, Medium, High
There were three exercises that Arnold swore by when training the chest; bench
press, incline bench press, and dumbbell flys. Arnold thought it vital to hit bench
press and incline press at low medium and high inclines.
He also believed that dumbbell flys were crucial to expanding the chest. Dumbbell
flys allowed him to move through a full range of motion while getting the optimal
stretch and contraction. He would go out as far as he could until his elbows almost
hit the ground, then come in towards the center where the dumbbells would touch
while contracting the pectoral muscles as much as possible.
Schwarzenegger believed you couldn't replace these three chest exercises with
machines, and it's hard to argue with one of the best chests in the history of
bodybuilding (to this day, "Arnold Schwarzenegger chest workout" is among the
most common workout searches online).
Going back to the point above, Arnold believed to get the muscle growth he
desired; he needed to shock the muscles. So once his body knew a routine he was
doing, like starting with bench press 135 then jumping to 225 to 275 then 315, he
would switch it up.
For example, he would change it to starting with 315 at 20 reps, then stripping
plates to go to 225, then performing ten reps, then take off more plates to do 135
for up to 15-20 reps. He did this to confuse his pectoral muscles and torture his
muscles to grow.

ARNOLD BACK WORKOUT:

Days Exercise Sets Reps

Monday & Wide Grip Chin Ups 4 To Failure

Thursday Superset 2 of the following: Bent-Over 5 Week 1:
Rows, Dumbbell Rows, T-Bar Rows 30,12,10,8,6
Week 2: 30, 8, 6,
4, 2
Week 3: 30, 12,
10, 8, 6
Week 4: 20, 15,
12
Arnold considered back exercises like bent-over rows with the barbell and T bar
row as his go-to exercises to add thickness to his back. Next, he looked to the stiff-
legged deadlift, bent over rows and deadlifts to help create the striations in the
lower back.
These exercises lack the component of supporting the chest so that the lower back
has to hold the body upright. Finally, Arnold often speaks about doing bent-over
rows with 315 lbs off the side of a bench to produce thickness, width, and strength.

ARNOLD BICEP WORKOUT:

Days Exercise Sets Reps
Tuesday & Barbell Curls* 5 Week 1:
Friday Superset: Seated Incline Two-arm Dumbbell 5 30,12,10,8,6

Curl & Concentration Curl *Week 2: 30, 8, 6,

4, 2
*Week 3: 30, 5, 5,
5, 5, 5
Week 4: 20, 15,
12, 10
Note: *Barbell Curls Week 2 & 3 use 1-10 method (do max rep, lower weight 2 reps,
lower weight 3 reps, until you get to 10 reps)
Schwarzenegger had some serious guns; he attributes this to barbell curls,
dumbbell curls on an incline bench, concentration curls, and "bicep 21s". He would
start with a heavy barbell curls up to 275 lbs. Arnold employed drop sets when
doing curls. He would start with a heavyweight, then do one rep, pull some plates
off, do two reps, strip a few more plates, and then do three and then four reps. He
wouldn't put the bar down the whole time, so that he kept shocking his biceps with
new stimuli and increased time under tension. The concentration curl with
heavyweights allowed him to form the massive peaks outside the biceps; this was
especially important for posing during competition with the back shot view.

ARNOLD TRICEP WORKOUT:

Days Exercise Sets Reps

Tuesday Close Grip Bench Press 5 Week 1: 30,12,10,8,6

Superset: Barbell Skull-Crushers & One Arm Overhead Week 2: 30, 8, 6, 4, 2

Dumbbell Ext Week 3: 30, 5, 5, 5, 5,

5
Friday Close Grip Bench Press 5
Week 4: 20, 15, 12,
Superset: Triceps Pushdown & One Arm Overhead Dumbbell 10
Extension
When training the triceps, Arnold primarily focused on the narrow bench press,
overhead triceps extensions, triceps pushdowns, and triceps dips. With some of
these compound exercises, he would lift with maximum training intensity.
Arnold might've been more well-known for his massive biceps, but his triceps were
also impressive. As a result, he would often train supersets of biceps and triceps
pre-competition.

ARNOLD SHOULDER WORKOUT:

Days Exercise Sets Reps

Tuesday Clean & Press 5 Clean & Press/Arnold Press: 5 sets

Superset: Dumbbell Press & Full- x 5 reps

Frontal Raise
Week 1: 30,12,10,8,6
Superset: Lateral Raises & Upright
Week 2: 30, 8, 6, 4, 2
Rows
Week 3: 30, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Friday Arnold Press 5
Week 4: 20, 15, 12, 10
Superset: Behind The Neck Press &
Full-Frontal Raise

Superset: *Rear Delt Flys & Upright

Rows
Note: *Rear delt flys while lying face first on incline bench.
When it comes to shoulder training, Arnold is among the most influential. To build
up the deltoids, he did exercises such as barbell presses in both the front and back
of the neck, military press and dumbbell press. He even has a shoulder exercise
named after him, the Arnold Press.
To do the Arnold press, he increased the range of motion to stretch the lateral
deltoid compared with a regular dumbbell shoulder press. He would start with his
elbows tucked into his sides while holding the dumbbells with an underhand grip,
then press up and rotate the wrist so that at the top of the movement, his palms
were facing away from him. This tweaking of the traditional shoulder press gave
him the added stretching tension and full flex of the deltoids.
Lateral raises on the bench set at a 45-degree angle were an exercise that Arnold
picked up at Vince Gironda's gym. They even had a bench with a cutout in it similar
to a massage table so they could keep their neck straight while doing this exercise.
The main point Arnold talks about to hit the rear deltoids is that he would turn the
wrists outwards at the top of the movement.
Sometimes Arnold would do shoulders by doing drop sets with dumbbell shoulder
presses. Starting with 110lb dumbbells, he would complete six reps, then pick up
the 100lb dumbbells to do another six. He would continue doing six reps while
dropping 10lbs each time until he got to the 40 lb dumbbells. That equates to a
whopping 48 reps! After all that, he said he was in pain and didn't know what to do
with his arms, which brings it back to his goal of shocking the muscle.

ARNOLD FOREARM WORKOUT:

Days Exercise Sets Reps

Tuesday & Friday Superset: Wrist Curls & Reverse Wrist 5 30,12, 10, 8,
Curls 6
Note: Switch up rep ranges every week. Week 2: 30, 8, 6, 4, 2. Week 3: 30,5,5,5,5,5,5.
Continue to play with rep ranges as you progress.
In the Arnold split, forearms are hit on the same day as shoulders, biceps and
triceps for a complete shoulders and arms workout. He would work his forearms
through supersets until the flexors and extensors were torched. As the forearms
are one of the smaller muscle groups, they were done towards the end of the
workout, working them through a wide range of reps to stimulate the most growth.

ARNOLD LEG WORKOUT:

Days Exercise Sets Reps

Wednesday Squats 5 8-12

Straight Legged Deadlifts 5 8-12

 Good Mornings* 5 8-12

Lunges 5 8-12

Superset: Leg Ext & Leg 5 8-12

Curls

Superset: Standing & Seated 5 8-12

Calf Raises

Saturday Front Squats 5 8-12

**Deadlifts 5 8-12

*Good Mornings 5 8-12

Lunges 5 8-12

Superset: Leg Ext & Leg 5 8-12

Curls

Superset: Standing & Seated 5 8-12

Calf Raises
Note: Arnold stayed within 5 sets of 8-12 reps on major leg exercises.

**Deadlifts: Choose from: 10, 6, 4, 3, 2 reps; 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 reps; or 12, 10, 8, 6, 5

*Do Good mornings only once a week. Choose either Wednesday or Saturday*
Arnold's legs may not be his most talked about body part, but they were certainly
very impressive. Regular back squats and variations were the most important
exercise for Arnold to build big, thick thighs. After that, he focused on other leg
exercises: leg extensions, lunges, stiff-legged deadlifts, good mornings, and leg
curls.
He then would shock the leg muscles by changing from squats to leg presses with
extremely heavy loads. Arnold sometimes would do ten sets of ten reps on squats
or leg curls, doing every rep in every set with maximum intensity. He would train
legs in two sessions on many occasions, one in the morning and one in the
afternoon. This two-a-day split ensured he could push himself to the absolute limits
with each rep.
Another anomaly found in Arnold's leg workouts was his short rest periods
between sets. This allowed him to retain as much blood in his leg muscles for an
extended period.
Exposing your weak points is a favorite saying of Arnold's, and that is exactly what
he did when it came to his calves. When training calves, Schwarzenegger
commented that he felt that the gastrocnemius muscle and soleus muscle had a
mind of their own and that from workout to workout, he would have to adjust his
training to what felt best that day.

ARNOLD AB WORKOUT:
Days Exercise Sets Reps

Monday & Thursday Decline Sit-ups 5 25

Wednesday & Saturday Kneeling Cable Crunch 4 25

Tuesday & Friday Leg Raises 5 25

Note: You can do Roman Chairs instead of Decline Sit-ups if you want.
The mainstays for Arnold's (famous 4-pack) ab routine were leg raises with straight
legs and bent knees, sit-ups, and up to 500 reps of Roman Chair sit-ups and
crunches. The abdominal area wasn't Arnold's best feature, but he managed to
figure out ways of turning this weakness into strength.
During competitions, you can notice how his posing affected the way his waist
looked to the judges. He was a master at smooth movements that took advantage
of certain angles to make his waist appear smaller. Arnold's training split would
involve working the abs every day he trained.