Arnold Schwarzenegger is a monolith. From his careers in politics, philanthropy, and entertainment to his years as a professional bodybuilder, Schwarzenegger has cultivated a reputation for being borderline allergic to half-hearted efforts.
His all-in philosophy was certainly an asset in Hollywood, but Schwarzenegger’s mythos is built upon his success on the physique stage — and the training he put himself through to get there. Seven wins at the Mr. Olympia competition speak for themselves, but take one look at Schwarzenegger’s approach to bodybuilding and you’ll see that his workout split, like the man himself, is larger than life.
If you’re on the prowl for a new approach to muscle gain, Schwarzenegger’s split might be up your alley. But make no mistake, this training plan isn’t for the faint of heart. To train like Arnie, you need to be barbaric. A predator; a Terminator.
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Before You Begin
Success in bodybuilding depends on more than just the quantity or quality of your workouts. Muscle mass doesn’t build itself, of course, but reaching your physical potential requires diligence outside the weight room as well.
More importantly, Schwarzenegger’s success in the bodybuilding world was multifaceted and much of his renown came from having nigh-impeccable genetics for the sport. Adopting his workout split won’t turn you into the Austrian Oak overnight; his exercises of choice won’t alter your bone structure, height, or limb length.
So, temper your expectations before you dive headlong into his grueling approach to physique development. And “grueling” is putting it mildly — these workouts, pulled from Schwarzenegger’s own book The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, (1) are extremely high-volume. You’ll need ample free time to spend in the gym (and diligent recovery habits) to run this thing as it’s written.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout Split for Bodybuilding
Schwarzenegger was a bonafide golden-era bodybuilder. Professional physique athletes have utilized a wide array of different training methods over the years, but the gentlemen (and women) of the ‘70s and 80’s built their bodies through set after set (after set) of body-part-specific training.
You’ll find that here in spades. Schwarzenegger doesn’t strictly specify in Encyclopedia which of his many routines he used during his competitive off-season, but many pros from that era weren’t liable to drastically alter their workouts throughout the year.
The Split
Schwarzenegger’s “Level 1 Exercise Program” is a six-day body part double split consisting of nine individual workouts spread across the week with one dedicated rest day.
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
(Morning) Chest
- Barbell Bench Press: 4 x 10,8,6,4
- Barbell Incline Bench Press: 4 x 10,8,6,4
- Dumbbell Flye: 3 x 10,8,6
- Dip: 3 x 15,10,8
- Pullover: 3 x 15
(Morning) Back
- Weighted Chin-Up: 4 x 10+
- Close-Grip Chin-Up: 4 x 10
- T-Bar Row: 4 x 15,12,8,6
- Barbell Row: 4 x 8-12
(Evening) Legs
- Squat: 5 x 20, then 4 x 10,8,6,4
- Front Squat: 4 x 10,8,8,6
- Hack Squat: 3 x 10
- Leg Curl: 4 x 20,10,8,6
- Standing Leg Curl: 4 x 10
- Straight-Leg Deadlift: 3 x 10
(Evening) Calves
- Donkey Calf Raise: 4 x 10
- Standing Calf Raise: 4 x 15,10,8,8
(Evening) Abs
- Crunch: 3 x 25
- Bent-Over Torso Twist: 100 reps each side
- Machine Crunch: 3 x 25
- Crunch: 1 x 50
On Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday
Shoulders
- Behind-the-Neck Overhead Press: 5 x 15, then 4 x 10,8,8,6
- Lateral Raise: 4 x 8
- Bent-Over Lateral Raise: 4 x 8
- Dumbbell Shrug: 3 x 10
Arms
- Barbell Curl: 5 x 15,10,8,6,4
- Incline Dumbbell Curl: 4 x 8
- Concentration Curl: 3 x 8
- Skull Crusher: 4 x 15,10,8,6
- Cable Triceps Pressdown: 3 x 8
- Single-Arm Triceps Extension: 3 x 10
Forearms
- Barbell Wrist Curl: 4 x 10
- Reverse Wrist Curl: 3 x 10
Calves
- Seated Calf Raise: 4 x 10
Abs
- Reverse Crunch: 4 x 25
- Seated Twist: 100 reps each side
- Vertical Bench Crunch: 4 x 25
How It Works
Schwarzenegger didn’t glamorize or embellish his approach to bodybuilding. There’s no secret technique or ancient knowledge at play here; you just need a good work ethic and a lot of time on your hands.
Schwarzenegger takes a traditional approach to arranging his body part split. Chest and back training are paired together in the mornings; a popular decision, since those muscle groups antagonize each other and, when trained in the same session, create one heck of an upper-body pump.
Evening sessions and alternate days are reserved for other muscles, with plenty of training volume devoted to smaller muscles like the calves and forearms. Schwarzenegger also opted to train his abs on a daily basis, mainly through low-load calisthenics like crunches or twists.
What You’ll Need
If you want to carry out Schwarzenegger’s workout split as-written, you’ll need a few things: The first (and most important) is time. The morning workouts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday alone contain 32 sets, which would require between one and a half and two hours to complete.
Second, this isn’t a home-gym-friendly workout plan. A wise bodybuilder makes use of a variety of different tools to build muscle, and Schwarzenegger was no different. You’ll find plenty of free weight exercises in here as well as many cable movements and a few large machine exercises like the hack squat.
To run Schwarzenegger’s workout split, you’ll need to set aside between 15 and 20 hours per week for training and have access to a well-furnished weight room.
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How to Modify the Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout Split
The sobering reality of Schwarzenegger’s training is that his legendary physique was built upon an equally astounding amount of time in the weight room. If you’re not a full-time career bodybuilder, his exact workout split may be impractical to try and fit into your lifestyle.
That said, there are steps you can take to modify the Schwarzenegger split to maintain the spirit of his training style while also ensuring you don’t have to spend every waking moment pounding the weights. Employ one or more of the following adjustments as needed:
Drop the Volume
Training volume is, debatably, the most important driver of muscle growth over time. (2) To encourage growth, you need to put your body through a more difficult workload than it is accustomed to.
However, most modern evidence suggests that piling on the training volume only works up to a point. Beyond a certain threshold (that varies between individuals), you’re likely to experience diminishing returns. (3)
In fact, the data display that while 10 to 20 weekly sets is broadly considered ideal for most folks, you can probably make a vast majority of the gains on offer with a fraction of the volume. You can opt to trim a few exercises out of each individual workout, or go for fewer sets per exercise; the former will save you more time in the gym.
Up the Intensity
Schwarzenegger and many of his golden-era contemporaries (including eight-time winner Sergio Oliva) operated under the “stimulate, don’t annihilate” philosophy of muscle training. In real-world terms, this means training hard, but not pushing yourself to the brink of failure on every set.
This practice aligns with modern research on hypertrophic stimuli, which mostly concludes that training to failure isn’t necessary for muscle growth, but may confer a small additional benefit. (4)(5)
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Upping your set-specific intensity accomplishes two things. It provides a muscle growth “safeguard,” all but guaranteeing that your workouts provide as much value as possible. Training to or near failure is also markedly better for gaining strength, (5) which may help you maintain progressive overload long-term.
If you choose to lower some of Schwarzenegger’s training volume, pair it with an increased workout intensity to continue driving progress.
Use Supersets
You may enjoy how Schwarzenegger organizes his weekly training, but simply lack the requisite time to run through all of his workouts. If you want to run the default program and need just a bit more time, make use of supersets.
Supersetting, or performing two different movements back to back with no rest in between, is a fantastic time-saving technique. Reducing your downtime will also increase the amount of calories you burn during your session. Most of Schwarzenegger’s workouts are well-suited to supersets. For instance, you could perform the Monday morning chest and back workout like this:
- Barbell Bench Press + Weighted Chin-Up
- Barbell Incline Bench Press + Close-Grip Chin-Up
- Dumbbell Flye + T-Bar Row
- Dip + Barbell Row
- Pullover: 3×15
Bear in mind that supersets do save time, but are metabolically demanding. Pairing two large compound exercises back-to-back is more of a challenge than it appears on paper, especially if those movements have intricate techniques or require valuable equipment.
If You’re a Beginner
You might be one of the many thousands of people who were drawn to lifting weights because of Schwarzenegger. If you’re taking your first steps on your fitness journey, power to you. However, you should probably steer clear of running Schwarzenegger’s workout split.
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This is an extremely high-volume, demanding exercise routine. It requires mastery over many different exercises, equipment, and movement patterns. For a bodybuilding newbie, it is more than overkill. Your best bet is to start with a beginner bodybuilding routine and lay some groundwork before tackling the Austrian Oak’s training style.
What Are Workout Splits?
No, workout splits aren’t a way to test your hip flexibility. For bodybuilders like Schwarzenegger, splits are a catch-all term for how an athlete splits up their different muscles into separate workouts.
Think of splits as the opposite of total-body training; you don’t have a workout, you have a chest workout. Many pro bodybuilders opt to design their own unique body part splits that address their specific physique weak points or that align with their schedules. That said, there are a few archetypes that work well if Schwarzenegger’s routine isn’t for you:
Upper-Lower Split
An upper-lower workout split involves training your entire upper (or lower) body in a single session, usually multiple times each week. Upper-lower splits are straightforward and tend to contain mostly compound exercises. This makes them phenomenal for beginners who need to develop overall strength, flexibility, and muscularity.
Push-Pull-Legs Split
Consider the push-pull-legs (PPL) split a step up from an upper-lower plan. Rather than training your top half altogether, PPL divides your upper body muscle groups into “push” or “pull” workouts.
Push sessions train your chest, shoulders, triceps, and occasionally some accessory muscles like abs or calves. Conversely, most pull workouts are focused on developing your back and hips.
Most leg exercises can be categorized in this fashion as well, but many push-pull routines opt to dedicate an entire unique workout toward lower-body exercises, since the muscles in your legs work so well as a synchronized unit.
Body Part Split
Schwarzenegger’s workout regime is considered a (highly specialized) body part split. Body part splits are the intermediate or advanced bodybuilder’s bread and butter. There isn’t necessarily a singular organizational principle here; muscles are grouped together into workouts based on convenience, practicality, personal preference, and so on.
For example, your chest and shoulder muscles are involved in many of the same exercises (think all manner of bench press). As such, chest and shoulders is a common pairing for body part splits.
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Or, you can have a dedicated arm day that runs entirely on supersets to save some time and blow up your guns. Body part splits offer the most flexibility and opportunity for muscle growth, but require more working knowledge to construct and maintain.
Lift Like the Oak
The night before the 1980 Mr. Olympia competition, Arnold Schwarzenegger — who had decided to enter the running that same day — was attacked by another competitor. (6) His decision and subsequent victory were considered a huge upset. Partly due to Schwarzenegger’s commanding (and controversial) demeanor, but also because he was, even after a multi-year break from competitive bodybuilding, a deadly threat on stage.
In a golden era of physical greats, Schwarzenegger was a perfect storm. By pairing his natural proclivity for the sport with a hauntingly-challenging training style, Schwarzenegger cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats of bodybuilding.
Will adopting his workout split set you on the path toward seven Sandow trophies? Perhaps not. But there’s no better way to pay homage to the Oak than following in his footsteps.
References
- Schwarzenegger, A., & Dobbins, B. (2014). The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding: The bible of bodybuilding. Simon & Schuster USA.
- Schoenfeld B. J. (2010). The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(10), 2857–2872.
- Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2017). Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of sports sciences, 35(11), 1073–1082.
- Refalo, M. C., Helms, E. R., Trexler, E. T., Hamilton, D. L., & Fyfe, J. J. (2023). Influence of Resistance Training Proximity-to-Failure on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 53(3), 649–665.
- Nóbrega, S. R., & Libardi, C. A. (2016). Is Resistance Training to Muscular Failure Necessary?. Frontiers in physiology, 7, 10.
- Peter McGough, ‘The 1980 Mentzer Arnold Punch Up,’ Digital Muscle, October 9, 2011.
Featured Image: @schwarzenegger on Instagram
