Arnold split workout guide and free spreadsheet

Advanced · 6 days a week · Ongoing, in blocks of 8 to 12 weeks · High-volume bodybuilding split

A six-day bodybuilding split from Arnold Schwarzenegger's own book. It trains every muscle twice a week and asks for more time and recovery than most lifters have.

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How Arnold split works

The Arnold split rotates three sessions through the week: chest and back, shoulders and arms, then legs and lower back. You run the rotation twice, so every muscle group gets trained two times a week, with one rest day. Typical layout: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then Thursday, Friday and Saturday, rest on Sunday.

Chest and back are paired on purpose. They are opposing muscles, so you can alternate a pressing set with a pulling set while the other side rests. Shoulders and arms follow the next day, when the big pressing and pulling lifts have already done much of the work. Legs get their own day, with squats, a hamstring movement and a lower back lift.

Each exercise gets about four sets, and the sets use different rep ranges. A common pyramid is 15, then 10 to 12, then 8 to 10, then 6 reps, with the weight rising as the reps fall. Sources describe sessions of 25 or more sets that run 90 minutes or longer. Arnold's fuller advanced version, as BarBend reports it, adds a second evening session for legs, calves and abs.

The version in our app is a simplified base: one pass through each of the three sessions with straight sets of 8 to 15 reps on the main lifts. The full pyramids and the extra exercises in the book are heavier on volume than the in-app templates, so treat those templates as a starting frame and add the rest as your recovery allows.

The schedule

Train on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or any other days with rest between. Every set uses the same weight, the one you can lift for the written reps.

Chest and back

Lift	Sets and reps
Bench press	4 x 8
Barbell row	4 x 10

Shoulders and arms

Lift	Sets and reps
Overhead press	4 x 8
Barbell curl	4 x 10

Legs and lower back

Lift	Sets and reps
Squat	5 x 8
Leg press	4 x 12
Romanian deadlift	4 x 10

Progression and stall rules

These progression rules are our suggestion

The source gives exercises, sets and rep ranges, but no rule for adding weight. The rules below are ours, not Arnold's. The spreadsheet adds small jumps per session only so you can see the loads move.

Add weight when the top of the range is easy

Pick a weight where your last set lands near the top of its rep range and one or two reps are left in reserve. When you finish every set of a lift in both weekly sessions that way, add the smallest jump you have. If you miss, repeat the weight.

Go hard on the last set, not every set

Training to failure is a core idea of the program, but with 12 or more sets per muscle and two sessions a week, failure on every set will bury you. Take the final set of each exercise to failure and stop the earlier sets short.

Deload when recovery slips

If your lifts drop for two sessions in a row, sleep is poor or joints ache, take about 10% off the bar for a week and cut each exercise by a set or two. Then build back up.

Weekly volume

Work sets per lift, counted from the schedule above (warm-ups not included).

Lift	Sets per week
Bench press	8
Barbell row	8
Overhead press	8
Barbell curl	8
Squat	10
Leg press	8
Romanian deadlift	8

Who it suits

A good fit

Experienced lifters with at least two or three years of consistent training who want a high-frequency, high-volume bodybuilding plan.
Lifters who enjoy long sessions and can train six days a week with one full rest day.
People who respond to volume and want a fixed slot for every muscle.

Look elsewhere if

Beginners. You do not need 12 sets per muscle to grow, and the volume will mostly cost you recovery. Start with a three-day full-body plan instead.
Anyone who cannot give about 90 minutes per session, six days a week.
Lifters chasing a bigger squat, bench or deadlift. This is a size program, and the heavy, low-rep strength work is a small part of it.
Anyone who is already tired, sleeping badly or in a hard calorie deficit. Volume this high needs food and sleep behind it.

Common mistakes

Copying the full book volume on day one

The advanced version of the program is hundreds of sets a week. Start with the basic version, three or four exercises per session, and add sets only after four to six weeks of recovering well.

Failure on every set

Arnold trained to failure, but he did it with a huge training base and a life built around lifting. Push the last set of each exercise to failure and keep the earlier ones a rep or two short.

Going equally hard in both weekly sessions

The second weekly hit on a muscle comes before it has fully recovered. Make one of the two sessions heavier and keep the other lighter and more controlled so you are not sore for the next one.

Skipping the pyramid

Cutting every exercise to one rep range removes the variety the program is built on. Use the high-rep first set to warm the joint and the heavy last set to push load.

Ignoring food and sleep

Six days of 90-minute sessions burn a lot. Without enough protein, calories and sleep, strength drops by week three and you blame the program.

Your sample week

For each lift, enter: Weight you use for your working sets. The weights below update as you type. Your numbers stay in your browser and are not saved. The numbers shown are an example lifter.

Chest and back

Bench press
Set	Reps	Weight (lb)
1	8	135
2	8	135
3	8	135
4	8	135

Barbell row
Set	Reps	Weight (lb)
1	10	115
2	10	115
3	10	115
4	10	115

Shoulders and arms

Overhead press
Set	Reps	Weight (lb)
1	8	85
2	8	85
3	8	85
4	8	85

Barbell curl
Set	Reps	Weight (lb)
1	10	65
2	10	65
3	10	65
4	10	65

Legs and lower back

Squat
Set	Reps	Weight (lb)
1	8	185
2	8	185
3	8	185
4	8	185
5	8	185

Leg press
Set	Reps	Weight (lb)
1	12	270
2	12	270
3	12	270
4	12	270

Romanian deadlift
Set	Reps	Weight (lb)
1	10	155
2	10	155
3	10	155
4	10	155

The spreadsheet

The file has three sheets: your numbers, the full week with every weight as a formula, and a progress table that carries the weights forward. It opens in Excel, Numbers and LibreOffice. The weights in the link below use the numbers you typed above.

Download the .xlsx

Open it in Google Sheets

Download the .xlsx file above.
Go to Google Drive and choose New, then File upload, and pick the file.
Double-click the uploaded file and choose Open with Google Sheets.
Choose File, then Save as Google Sheets so you can edit it.

Want the weights to follow you into the gym? Create a free account and the program loads into Train for you.

How it compares

Arnold split vs Push pull legs

Push pull legs is the other common six-day plan. It splits by movement, so chest, shoulders and triceps share a day. The Arnold split pairs opposing muscles, which makes sessions longer but keeps chest and back each fresh for their own work. Read the Push pull legs guide.

Arnold split vs Upper/lower split

Upper/lower runs four days a week and trains each muscle twice, with about a third less time in the gym. It is the easier plan to recover from and a better fit for most lifters than the Arnold split. Read the Upper/lower split guide.

Arnold split vs nSuns 5/3/1

nSuns is a strength program built on a handful of barbell lifts and percentage ladders. The Arnold split is the opposite approach: more exercises, more sets and muscle size as the aim, not a bigger one-rep max. Read the nSuns 5/3/1 guide.

Load Arnold split into Train and log each session against the plan.

Start it in Symmetric Strength

The workouts in Train are a simplified version of this program, with one rep count per lift. Use the schedule above for the exact sets.

Common questions

What is the Arnold split?

It is a six-day body part split taken from Arnold Schwarzenegger's book The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. Chest and back, shoulders and arms, and legs each get one session, then the cycle repeats so every muscle trains twice a week.

How many days a week is the Arnold split?

Six, with one rest day. Typical layout: chest and back on Monday and Thursday, shoulders and arms on Tuesday and Friday, legs and lower back on Wednesday and Saturday. Sunday off.

Is the Arnold split good for beginners?

No. It was built around a lifter who already had years of training and the recovery to match. A beginner grows well on far less volume and will find six long sessions a week hard to sustain.

What reps and sets does the Arnold split use?

About four sets per exercise, in a pyramid such as 15, 10 to 12, 8 to 10 and 6 reps, with heavier weights as the reps fall. Sources agree on the pattern but differ on exact exercises and set counts, so there is no single official table.

Does the Arnold split train each muscle twice a week?

Yes. Chest and back, shoulders and arms, and legs are each trained in two separate sessions per week. Some published versions train chest, back and legs three mornings a week and repeat calves on all six days.

Arnold split or push pull legs?

Both work six days a week and hit each muscle twice. Push pull legs groups muscles by movement, which spreads pressing across fewer days. The Arnold split pairs chest with back and puts shoulders with arms, which makes each session longer and the arm days heavier.

How long should an Arnold split session take?

Expect 75 to 90 minutes or more for the full version. The in-app templates are shorter, around 75 minutes. If a session runs longer than you can hold your focus, cut accessory sets before cutting rest.

Know where you stand

Before you start, check how your lifts compare on the strength standards, estimate a max with the one-rep max calculator, or score your total with the DOTS calculator.

Sources and credit

The Arnold split comes from Arnold Schwarzenegger's book The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. We have not reproduced the book. This guide describes the program's structure in our own words from published summaries, which differ in detail, and links to them.

Checked October 13, 2026. Symmetric Strength is not affiliated with Arnold Schwarzenegger or the publishers of The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. Program names are used only to identify the programs.