In the late 1980’s, Arnold and Sly were at the peak of their muscle, movie physiques. Arnold was the man. From the first time I saw Conan, I wanted to look like him. Muscles and badassery.
I worked in my grandma’s yard, saved my allowance for a couple months and bought a brand new copy of The Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding. I just knew the secret to my becoming Mr. Olympia was in those pages.
This program is based on his split. No, I know he didn’t train the same split for his whole career. But this was the first of his programs I trained on, hence, the Arnold split.
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.
FeaturesA1
Bench Press
6, 10, 10, 6
A2
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
6, 10, 10, 6
B1
Low-Incline Bench Press
6, 10, 10, 6
B2
Seated Cable Row
6, 10, 10, 6
C1
Incline DB Bench Press
6, 10, 10, 6
C2
Curl Grip Pulldown
6, 10, 10, 6
D1
One-Arm DB Bench Press
6, 10, 10, 6
D2
1-Arm DB Row
6, 10, 10, 6
E1
Rear Delt Flyes
4 x 8
E2
DB Chest Fly
4 x 8
A1
DB Lateral Raise
3 x 6
A2
Seated Incline DB Curls
3 x 12
A3
Incline Triceps Extension
3 x 15
B1
Scott Lateral Raise
3 x 8
B2
DB Bicep Curls
3 x 10
B3
Overhead Cable Tricep Extension
3 x 12
C1
Poliquin Dumbbell Lateral Raises
3 x 10
C2
Zottman Curls
3 x 8
C3
Reverse Grip Tricep Pushdown
3 x 12
D1
Ahrens Press
3 x 8
D2
Barbell Bicep Curl
3 x 6
D3
French Press
3 x 12
E1
Victory Front Raise
3 x 10
E2
Arnold Concentration Curl
3 x 12
E3
Tricep Pushdown
3 x 15
A1
Back Squat
6, 10, 10, 6
A2
Stiff Leg Deadlift
6, 10, 10, 6
B1
Front Squat
6, 10, 10, 6
B2
Good Morning
6, 10, 10, 6
C1
Barbell Hack Squat
6, 10, 10, 6
C2
Sumo Deadlift
6, 10, 10, 6
D1
Bulgarian Split Squat
6, 10, 10, 6
D2
Single Leg RDL
6, 10, 10, 6
E1
Leg Press
6, 10, 10, 6
E2
Lying Leg Curl
6, 10, 10, 6
A1
DB Fly
3 x 15
A2
Bench Press
3 x 8
B1
Straight Arm Pulldown
3 x 12
B2
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown Behind The Neck
3 x 8
C1
Incline DB Bench Press
3 x 6
C2
DB Fly
3 x 12
D1
Arc Dumbbell Row
3 x 6
D2
1-Arm DB Row
3 x 12
E1
DB Fly
3 x 8
E2
DB Bench Press
3 x 12
F1
DB Cross Bench Pull-over
3 x 15
F2
Seated Cable Row
3 x 8
A1
Push Press
6, 10, 10, 6
A2
Barbell Upright Row
6, 10, 10, 6
B1
Standing Arnold Press
6, 10, 10, 6
B2
Cuban Press
6, 10, 10, 6
C1
Scott Press
6, 10, 10, 6
C2
Overhead Lateral Raise
6, 10, 10, 6
D1
Barbell Bicep Curl
6, 10, 10, 6
D2
Skull Crushers
6, 10, 10, 6
E1
Preacher Curls
6, 10, 10, 6
E2
French Press
6, 10, 10, 6
F1
Hammer Curl
6, 10, 10, 6
F2
Dip
6, 10, 10, 6
A1
Hack Squat
3 x 8
A2
Leg Extension
3 x 15
A3
Sissy Squat
3 x MAX
B1
Good Morning
4 x 8
B2
Lying Leg Curl
4 x 8
C1
Walking Lunges
3 x 12
C2
Standing Leg Curl
3 x 6
C3
Front to back lunge
3 x 8
D1
Slider Lateral Lunges
3 x 12
D2
Cossack Squat
3 x 12
E1
Leg Press
2 x MAX
E2
Leg Press
2 x MAX
E3
Leg Press
2 x MAX