Champions Unite — Ronnie Coleman & Arnold Schwarzenegger Train at Gold’s Gym Venice

Eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman and seven-time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger reunited for a training session at the iconic Gold’s Gym in Venice, CA — an epicenter of bodybuilding during the Golden Era, made famous by the film Pumping Iron.

Get a good pump on with my boy Arnold. Yeah, buddy! 

—Ronnie Coleman

The workout focused on shoulders and arms. Schwarzenegger insisted on hitting weights before breakfast, “because when we go to the restaurants, we want to look pumped up,” he said.

• Seated Machine Lateral Raise: 3 x 15-20
• Seated Machine Rear Delt Flye: 5 x 10
• Machine Seated Dip: 5 x 15
• Machine Preacher Curl: 5 x 15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HT2_bmH7nQ&ab_channel=RonnieColeman

Seated Lateral Raise 

Schwarzenegger set up the lateral raise machine to bias the medial delts. Coleman adjusted Schwarzenegger’s range of motion to achieve a greater stretch. This increased range maintains tension on the target muscles, enhancing muscle growth. (1)

Seated Rear Delt Flye

The rear delt flye machine target the posterior delts. (2) Impressed by Coleman’s endurance, the 77-year-old Schwarzenegger marveled at how Coleman (66) maintains such impressive energy levels at age 61.

Seated Dip & Preacher Curl 

Coleman began seated dips to train triceps. They finished on the preacher curl machine for a biceps pump before breakfast. Research indicates preacher curls boost biceps strength, suggesting growth in the distal elbow flexor muscles is more pronounced with preacher curls than incline curls. (3)

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After Schwarzenegger finished his set, Coleman pushed through 15 reps.

That was your trick. You used to do high reps on the biceps. That’s why you got that peak.

—Arnold Schwartzenegger

Schwarzenegger assisted Coleman during his final set to near failure.

References

1. Burd NA, Andrews RJ, West DW, Little JP, Cochran AJ, Hector AJ, Cashaback JG, Gibala MJ, Potvin JR, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. J Physiol. 2012 Jan 15;590(2):351-62. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200. Epub 2011 Nov 21. PMID: 22106173; PMCID: PMC3285070.
2. Schoenfeld, B., Sonmez, R. G., Kolber, M. J., Contreras, B., Harris, R., & Ozen, S. (2013). Effect of hand position on EMG activity of the posterior shoulder musculature during a horizontal abduction exercise. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 27(10), 2644–2649. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e318281e1e9
3. Kassiano, W., Costa, B., Kunevaliki, G., Lisboa, F., Stavinski, N., Prado, A., Tricoli, I., Francsuel, J., Lima, L., Nunes, J., Ribeiro, A. S., & Cyrino, E. S. (2025). Distinct muscle growth and strength adaptations after preacher and incline biceps curls. International journal of sports medicine, 46(5), 334–343. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2517-0509 

Featured image: @ronniecoleman8 on Instagram