Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most successful bodybuilders of all time, and many modern bodybuilders look to him as a source of inspiration. The Arnold split he created that allowed him to win seven Mr. Olympia titles has become an iconic exercise among weightlifters around the world.
What is Arnold split workout?
The Arnold split is a six-day workout program that trains chest and back, shoulders and arms, and legs twice per week. The program was designed for people who want to increase their muscle mass and improve their physique. It’s only for advanced lifers because of its high volume. In the post, we’ll cover the Arnold split routine and how to train it.
The typical muscle group breakdown of the split is chest and back, shoulders and arms, and legs. Most exercises are performed with three to four sets of 6-25 reps. Let’s start with Arnold’s weekly schedule.
Here is an example of what a typical week might look like on the Arnold split:
- Monday: Chest and triceps
- Tuesday: Back and biceps
- Wednesday: Rest day
- Thursday: Shoulders and abs
- Friday: Legs and calves
- Saturday: Rest day
- Sunday: Rest day
Arnold workout for chest
Arnold workout for back
Arnold workout for shoulders
Arnold workout for legs
Arnold split vs PPL: which is better?
Two popular training splits are the Arnold and the PPL (push, pull, legs) split. These splits allow you to work all of your muscles throughout the week efficiently.
They differ in the way you train your upper body. With the Arnold, you train your chest and back one day and your shoulders and arms on another day. With the PPL split, you train your pushing muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) one day and your pulling muscle (back, biceps) on another day. Both methods also train your legs and core on two different days.
You may also like the Spartacus workout (with PDF). And learn more about Arnold Schwarzenegger.