In this article, we dive into Arnold Schwarzenegger's 6-day workout split, otherwise known as, “The Arnold Split” or "The Blueprint to Building Mass" a regimen developed with Muscle Pharm that played a pivotal role in crafting his iconic physique.
The former governor and retired body builder works out six days a week and does body part splits, which means he works on a different part of the body for each session. Schwarzenegger said he trains chest and back one day, biceps, triceps, and shoulders another day, and legs the third day, and then repeats.
Beginners: If you're new to weightlifting, six days a week may lead to overtraining and insufficient recovery. Starting with 3-4 days per week is often recommended. Intermediate/Advanced Lifters: More experienced lifters may benefit from a six-day routine, especially if it's structured properly to allow for recovery.
This is a 6-Day per week program with each bodypart being worked twice. It is has one heavy workout focused on basic, compound exercises and one light workout with more isolation exercises and true supersets. All of the repetitions are in the hypertrophy range between 6-15 reps.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, 74, works out every day for up to 1.5 hours, cycling and lifting weights. As a professional bodybuilder, he used to work out for five hours a day, he told Insider. In his acting career, Schwarzenegger changed his training depending on his role.
A six-day workout split is a training schedule in which you divide your workouts over six days of the week, with each day focusing on a different muscle group or training goal. This structured approach to training allows you to rest adequately while maximizing gains across the board.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's “sleep faster” strategy
The former Mr Olympia sleeps just six hours a night so that he has at least 18 hours of productive time during the day. The seven-time bodybuilding champion reportedly spent as much time in the gym as he did in bed during his early career.
Training biceps with chest allows you to attack biceps from a fresh poison every workout. If you pair the biceps with the back or triceps with the chest, the smaller arm muscles will start their first primary exercise in a fatigued state as they assist the larger muscle group in its exercises.
I was loading the calf raise machine up to 700 pounds, doing 15 sets every day. I was hitting them with donkey raises with half the bodybuilders in the gym on my back. I left no stone unturned. I was relentless.
“You can lift lighter weights, and as long as you lift them with a high degree of effort, they're as good as heavier weights in making you bigger,” he says. Using a home gym machine or even just your own body weight, like with push-ups or lunges, works.
Unfortunately, there's no concrete answer to that question. For most people, the answer is… less. If you're training six or seven times per week but you're not training for a specific sport, event or competition, chances are you're overtraining.
The push/pull/legs split is probably the most efficient workout split there is because all related muscle groups are trained together in the same workout. This means that you get the maximum overlap of movements within the same workout, and the muscle groups being trained get an overall benefit from this overlap.
He typically trained six days per week, focusing on one muscle group per day. For example, he would start his week with chest and triceps, followed by back and biceps. He would then take a rest day before hitting his legs twice a row.
Arnold's method goes beyond the simplistic idea of lifting weights and eating a high-calorie diet. It's a comprehensive strategy that demands intensity, dedication, and a deep understanding of how to effectively stimulate muscle growth both in and out of the gym.
Arnold's training schedule is considered high volume by today's standards. He did as many as 26 working sets on large muscle groups such as back, chest, and shoulders. And since he broke down the legs into the quads, hamstrings and calves, he frequently did as many as 61 sets on leg day.
One of the biggest mistakes made by gym goers is training two big muscle groups in the same training session. Combining leg and back exercises, for example, requires a lot of energy and puts pressure on the nervous system.
The Arnold split is a six-day workout split in which you train the chest and back, shoulders and arms, and legs twice per week. It's a muscle-building program that's designed to help you increase muscle mass and improve your physique. Because of its high amount of volume, it's only for advanced lifters.
Incline Bench Press
Perform 15 reps in your first set, 12 in your second, 10 in your third and eight in your last. Lie on a flat bench holding two dumbbells over your chest with an overhand grip. Push up until your arms are straight, then lower under control.
Mentzer's training volume recommendation will vary based on population. He recommends volumes as low as two sets per muscle group each week for beginners in some transcripts. In his Mr. Olympia training program, he completes between 4 and 12 sets per muscle every ten days.
Most expert bodybuilders strategically plan their exercising schedules to consist of four-6 days of schooling according to week, focusing on distinctive muscle companies every session. This approach allows muscle mass that were worked intensely to get better and rebuild more potent.
A compound lift, or compound exercise, is multi-joint and multi-muscle, and these five are the holy grail, topping the group for traditional best weightlifting exercises to form part of your resistance training program. These are the bench press, squat, shoulder press, pull-up and deadlift.
Albert Einstein is said to have slept 10 hours per night, plus regular daytime naps. Other great achievers, inventors, and thinkers – such as Nikola Tesla, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sir Isaac Newton – are said to have slept between two and four hours per day.
Also, remember that half of our list got at least 7 hours each night, including Tim Cook, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey, so there are plenty of ultra-successful people who get plenty of rest. The likelihood is that you will be able to approach your work best when you're well rested.