Arnold Schwarzenegger's Routine

[xander_cage7]

This is Arnold's Routines from the mid '70s

Mon, Wed, Fri

Chest:
Bench press 5 x 6-10
Flat bench flyes 5 x 6-10
Incline bench press 6 x 6-10
Cable crossovers 6 x 10-12
Dips (body weight) 5 x failure
Dumbell pullovers 5 x 10-12.

Back:
Wide-grip chins (to front) 6 x failure
T-bar rows 5 x 6-10
Seated pulley rows 6 x 6-10
One-arm dumbell rows 5 x 6-10
Straight-leg deadlifts 6 x 15

Legs:
Squats 6 x 8-12
Leg press 6 x 8-12
Leg extensions 6 x 12-15
Leg curls 6 x 10-12
Barbell lunges 5 x 15

Calves:
Standing calf raises 10 x 10
Seated calf raises 8 x 15
Oneplegged calf raises (holding dumbells) 6x12

Forearms:
Wrist curls (forearms on knees) - 4 sets, 10 reps
Reverse barbell curls - 4 sets, 8 reps
Wright roller machine - to failure

Abs:
half hour of a variety of nonspecific abdominal exercises, done virtually nonstop.

Tues, Thurs, Sat

Biceps:
Barbell curls 6 x 6-10
Seated dumbell curls 6 x 6-10
Dumbell concentration curls 6 x 6-10

Triceps:
Close-grip bench presses 6 x 6-10
Pushdowns 6 x 6-10
French press (barbell) 6 x 6-10
One-arm triceps extensions (dumbell) 6 x 6-10

Shoulders:
Seated barbell presses 6 x 6-10
Lateral raises (standing) 6 x 6-10
Rear-delt lateral raises 5 x 6-10
Cable lateral raises 5 x 10-12

Calves , Forearms & Abs:
Same as Monday, Wednesday, Friday workout

[kev120782]

I dont recall seeing him work out that much especially all thoughs muscle groups in one day. Let me get this straight, he worked out chest,legs,back,calves,abs and forearms all in one day three times a week then the other muscle groups biceps,triceps, shoulders, calves in the other three days? That doesnt sound right to me, seems alittle much. Of course I havent read everything he has done and well I really like arnolds physique but damn.

[xander_cage7]

he probably split the muscle groups up amongst the given 3 days, im not sure honestly

[kev120782]

Yea I re-read the post and if i were you i think id make it more clear. I am pretty sure too that mon was chest and wed was back as legs were on friday.. He had to of split all that up.

[justin8684]

Arnold trained chest & back together in the mornings (workout consisted almost entirely of supersets between the two muscle groups) and then trained thighs, calves, and abs in the evening on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He trained shoulders, upper arms, and forearms on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings with calves and abs in the evening.

His workouts consisted of many, many supersets and trisets; dominated by trisets when he was in competition training mode.

[kev120782]

okay well that makes a lot more sense now. I was like "woah legs, chest back all in the same day lol wtf" I mean I could see it if it were a whole body workout or something but it didnt appear to be that type of routine.

[justin8684]

Well he did train chest, back, and legs in the same day; chest & back were in the morning and legs were in the evening. He rested 8-10 hours in between his morning and evening sessions.

[mac520]

That just goes to show what steroids and genetics can do.

[tele2k]

Arnold trained chest & back together in the mornings (workout consisted almost entirely of supersets between the two muscle groups) and then trained thighs, calves, and abs in the evening on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He trained shoulders, upper arms, and forearms on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings with calves and abs in the evening.

His workouts consisted of many, many supersets and trisets; dominated by trisets when he was in competition training mode.

lol that can't be right.

32 sets of chest, 27 sets of back in the morning....... 29 sets of thighs, 24 sets of calves, and abs in the evening. All this on one day? lol. That can't be right.

[MafdetX]

that is such a ridiculous workout. steroids will do that to you

[GuyJin]

'Tain't just the juice, but that's a big part of it. Back in the late 60's and early 70's, up until Mentzer and Yates, pretty much all the top-level guys did fairly to very high volume. That was just the way they trained. Of course, the steroids helped them recover and grow faster, but the training was not "all-out-do-it-til-you-can't-move" training; most of the sets weren't near failure--maybe two or three reps shy in some cases, but not total failure a la Jones and Mentzer, which didn't fry their CNS's so much.

Still, they worked hard. Remember the scene in "Pumping Iron" where Ed Corney and Arnold were squatting? A lotta weight moved there and for fairly high reps--Corney practically passed out on his last set (don't think he was acting, here).

The programme posted by the OP is pretty much what Arnold used back in the day, but that was come competition time--about three to four months before the Olympia. Prior to that, he'd cycle his training: About four months basic power moves four days a week and a few isos, plus work on weak points, next four months he'd still do basics, but bump his training from four days a week to six days, but only twice a week for each bodypart i.e. Monday/Thursday--chest and back, Tuesday/Friday--legs and abs, etc. and still work on weak points. The last three to four months was contest prep--the routine listed at the top of this thread.

Crazy volume, but it worked. Granted, I doubt Arnold would've looked that big or cut without steroids, but he was special. He ordinarily used more volume than most even without juicing as he could tolerate a lot more sets than most guys could. Just the way it was, and still is with the genetic elite.

[_Ishy]

Just a little inspirational youtube vid of the squatting you're on about

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7cvJozA28o

[GuyJin]

Thanks, bud; now THAT'S intensity for you!

[xander_cage7]

i've actually recently started using this workout and its pretty intense when i use enough weight.

I made the training split into:
Mon-Chest,Calves
Tue-Biceps,Forearms
Wed-Back,Abs
Thur-Triceps,Calves
Fri-Legs,Forearms
Sat-Shoulders,Abs

[patleb940]

i've actually recently started using this workout and its pretty intense when i use enough weight.

I made the training split into:
Mon-Chest,Calves
Tue-Biceps,Forearms
Wed-Back,Abs
Thur-Triceps,Calves
Fri-Legs,Forearms
Sat-Shoulders,Abs

I hope you enjoy being 120 lbs. because you might be there for a long time with that kind of program.

[xander_cage7]

im actually about 125 now

[Pull-Up]

Nice workout when you are on juice and bb is your life.

[_Ishy]

im actually about 125 now

I got from 135 to 140 with that sort of routine. A year or two later I changed to a full body, compound based, two part split done three times a week and I've shot from 140 to 157 in a few months.

Well, about 142

[xander_cage7]

i dont intend to do this routine long-term, just a few weeks to see what kind of results i get.

[briantrainng]

This is Arnold's Routines from the mid '70s

He was an anaimal. No wonder he is so big.

[xander_cage7]

besides the fact that he used steroids, he was a beast.

[Rane]

i dont intend to do this routine long-term, just a few weeks to see what kind of results i get.

dont plan on seeing much bud

[xander_cage7]

i dont really expect much, but im fairly sore the morning after each workout.

[justin8684]

I've incorporated bits & pieces of Arnold's routine into my routine with training chest & back together and the high volume, but I wouldn't recommend it for somebody of your size. You need a really solid base body for a routine like this.

[GuyJin]

Soreness shouldn't always be equated with growth; I made the same mistake as well when younger.

OP, do yourself a favor and find a full-body routine in the "Sticky" section. It's one thing to admire Arnold; it's quite another to train JUST like he did because I can tell you right now, what you're going to do isn 't going to make any bit of difference. Five days a week and doing back the day after biceps?

Nonsense. Hey, it's your body and if you want to try out this routine you're thinking of, go for it. But when you fail to make progress you'll see that you have to start off at a much lower level. You're only 15 and 130 pounds or so and more importantly--you ain't Arnold! And if you ain't him, you shouldn't be training like him.

Seriously, check the full-body stuff. Not glamourous, but it works.

[xander_cage7]

when i started working out, i was about 4'10" and 90 pounds, and that was around 2 years ago