The Arnold split pairs chest with back, shoulders with arms, and gives legs a day of their own, then runs that three-day cycle twice a week. It is named after the routine Arnold Schwarzenegger used in the 1970s, often training twice a day, and it is one of the few classic bodybuilding splits that trains every muscle twice a week.
The pairing is clever. Chest and back are opposing muscles, so you can superset a press with a row: one set of each, back and forth. You get more work done in less time, and each muscle rests while the other works.
Who it’s for
Experienced lifters who recover well, enjoy high volume and can train six days a week. It suits people chasing size and symmetry rather than a bigger total, and anyone who finds PPL’s chest-shoulders-triceps push day too crowded.
Arnold’s original volume was extreme. Six days of 20-plus sets per session will flatten almost anyone without his recovery, and his schedule. The version below keeps the structure and cuts the volume to something an adult with a job can recover from.
The week
| Day | Session | Pairing |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Chest & back | Press / row supersets |
| Tuesday | Shoulders & arms | Biceps / triceps supersets |
| Wednesday | Legs | Quads, hamstrings, calves |
| Thursday | Chest & back | Different variations |
| Friday | Shoulders & arms | Lighter, higher reps |
| Saturday | Legs | Hinge focus |
| Sunday | Rest | — |
A sample day
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| A1. Barbell bench press | 4 × 6–8 | 60 s |
| A2. Weighted pull-up | 4 × 6–8 | 2 min |
| B1. Incline dumbbell press | 3 × 8–10 | 45 s |
| B2. Chest-supported row | 3 × 8–10 | 90 s |
| C1. Cable fly | 3 × 12–15 | 30 s |
| C2. Straight-arm pulldown | 3 × 12–15 | 60 s |
Twenty sets, but at 10 per muscle it is a normal chest session and a normal back session sharing 70 minutes. Rest goes after the second exercise in each pair, not between them, though on the heaviest pair take a short breath before the pull-ups.
The shoulders and arms day follows the same logic: overhead press, then lateral raises supersetted with rear-delt flyes, then curls supersetted with triceps extensions.
How to progress
Use double progression on everything. For the first superset of each day, use a lower rep range (6–8) and push to add weight every week or two. For the rest, 8–15 reps, and add weight when every set reaches the top.
Supersets make you a little weaker on the second exercise. That is fine, as long as you compare like with like: a superset week against a superset week.
Because the volume is high, plan a lighter week every five or six weeks. Keep the exercises and cut the sets by a third. If your sleep or appetite drops before then, take it early.
Mistakes that stall it
Running Arnold’s actual volume
His published routines ran 30-plus sets a session. Start with 16–20 sets per day and add only if you are clearly recovering.
Supersetting heavy lower-body work
Squats supersetted with anything leave you gasping and lifting less. Keep leg day straight sets.
Arms twice on top of everything
Chest and back already hit biceps and triceps hard twice a week. Arm work on shoulder day should be moderate.
No rest day
Six days plus a seventh “light” session isn’t a plan. Keep Sunday off.
Ignoring rear delts
Big pressing volume with little rear-delt work rounds the shoulders forward. Rear-delt flyes or face pulls every shoulder day.
Running it in Splyt
Splyt templates support supersets: group the bench press with the pull-ups and they are logged as a pair. Build the three days twice, with different variations for the second half of the week, and each template carries forward what you lifted last time.
On Apple Watch, Splyt counts your reps from the wrist, so you can move between the two exercises without picking up your phone.
Questions
Is the Arnold split good for natural lifters?
Yes, at sensible volume. The structure of chest with back, shoulders with arms and legs alone, twice a week, is sound. It was the original volume that was unrealistic for most people.
Arnold split or push pull legs?
Both train everything twice in six days. PPL groups muscles that work together; the Arnold split groups opposing muscles, so it works well with supersets. If your PPL push days feel too long, try Arnold.
Can I run the Arnold split three days a week?
You can run the cycle once a week, but then each muscle is trained once, which makes it a body-part split. If you only have three days, full body is a better fit.
How long are Arnold split workouts?
About 60 to 75 minutes with supersets. Without them, chest-and-back days can run past 90 minutes.
Where do abs go?
At the end of the legs days, or between supersets on shoulders and arms day. Three or four sets twice a week is plenty.
Other splits
- Push pull legs split — 3 or 6 days
- 6 day workout split — 6 days
- Bro split — 5 days
- Every workout split, compared
Exercises by muscle
How to do every lift above, and the alternatives when a machine is taken: Chest · Shoulders · Triceps · Lats · Upper back · Biceps · Quads · Hamstrings · Glutes · Calves · Abs · The full exercise library
Ready-made workouts for each day
Sessions with sets, reps and rest you can drop into this split: Push day · Pull day · Leg day · Upper body · Lower body · Full body · At home · All workouts
Free tools for this split
- Training volume calculator — Hard sets per muscle against the ranges that build it.
- Workout split generator — Days, time and goal in; a week of training out.
- RPE calculator — Effort to load, and a set back to a max.
- Warm-up set calculator — A ramp from the empty bar to your work set.
Splyt is a workout tracker for iPhone and Apple Watch with templates that remember what you lifted. Get Splyt free on the App Store · How templates work