Free program

Arnold Split

The golden-era split made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger: chest & back together, shoulders & arms together, then legs — repeated twice for six sessions a week. Antagonist pairings keep the pace high and the pump enormous. Not for beginners, and not for the time-poor.

Days / week6LevelAdvancedGoalHypertrophySession~75–90 min

Days 1 & 4 — chest & back

Exercise
Sets × RepsRest
4 × 6–102–3 min
4 × 6–102–3 min
3 × 8–122 min
Pull Upor Lat Pulldown (Cable)
3 × 6–122 min
3 × 10–1590 s
3 × 10–1290 s
2 × 10–1590 s

Days 2 & 5 — shoulders & arms

Exercise
Sets × RepsRest
4 × 8–102 min
3 × 12–1560–90 s
3 × 12–1560–90 s
3 × 10–1290 s
3 × 8–1290 s
3 × 8–1290 s
2 × 10–1560 s
2 × 10–1560 s

Days 3 & 6 — legs & core

Exercise
Sets × RepsRest
4 × 6–103 min
3 × 8–102–3 min
3 × 10–12 / leg2 min
3 × 12–1590 s
4 × 10–1560–90 s
3 × 15–2060 s

Progression

Add weight via double progression — top of the rep range on every set earns the next increment. Volume is the poison here: if sessions cross 90 minutes or joints start complaining, drop the last set of each accessory before touching the compounds. Arnold famously supersetted chest with back (bench then rows, no rest) — it halves the session length and is worth trying once the weights are dialled in.

Substitutions

Keep the pairings — a press with a pull on chest & back day — and swap freely within them using the exercise directory. Arnold Press can be traded for any overhead press, the Dumbbell Pullover for a Cable Straight Arm Pulldown.

FAQ

What is the Arnold split?

A six-day bodybuilding split from the golden era: chest & back on days 1 and 4, shoulders & arms on days 2 and 5, legs on days 3 and 6, one rest day. Every muscle is trained twice a week with high volume.

Is the Arnold split too much volume?

For most lifters, yes at first. It demands six gym days, solid sleep and plenty of food. If you cannot recover, run each day once across three sessions instead, or switch to Push/Pull/Legs, which spreads the same muscles over more days.

Can I run the Arnold split 3 days a week?

Yes — do chest & back, shoulders & arms, and legs once each. Every muscle then gets one weekly session, which works like a bro split with longer days. It is a sensible way to trial the pairings before committing to six days.

Build it in FYL in one tap

Recreate this program as a routine in FYL and every session logs itself against it — sets, PRs, estimated 1RM and weekly volume per muscle. Free on iOS, or build it on the web.

Get FYL free All free programs

More free programs: Push / Pull / Legs · Bro Split · Upper / Lower · Powerbuilding