I Trained Like Arnold for 8 Weeks — Here’s What I Loved (and Hated)

Arnold Schwarzenegger is undoubtedly the greatest bodybuilder of all time.

Besides his Greek god-like genetics, the Austrian Oak’s training style and persona played a major role in dominating every field he entered, from strongman to politics.

The seven-time Mr. Olympia’s high-volume, double-split workouts with a focus on the pump still inspire lifters worldwide, and I am not immune to the Arnold fever either. As a personal trainer with almost two decades in the trenches, I decided to test Arnold’s methods on myself.

I wanted bigger muscles, yes, but also to understand the mindset behind his success.

This prompted me to embark on an eight-week challenge where I trained like Arnold. In this article, I’ll take you through the nitty-gritty of my training and share what I loved and hated about it. You’ll also learn how you can implement it into your own routine.

The Arnold Blueprint: Understanding His Training Philosophy

In his prime, Arnold trained six days a week, and his workouts mainly comprised compound movements to maximize muscle stimulation and subsequent adaptations.

Old school workouts were all about volume, intensity, and achieving muscle-ripping pumps. It’d be safe to say that Arnie pioneered this approach.

The cult bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron (1977) had a scene where Arnold is relaxing on the beach after hitting the gym. When someone asks him about his evening plans, he replies that he’s going to train again.

This was the golden era of bodybuilding at its peak.

Bodybuilders usually perform unique workouts when they are being filmed to project a particular image of themselves and look interesting and hardcore. However, that isn’t necessarily how they normally train.

I spent over 20 hours watching old Arnold training videos to internalize his approach and understand the method behind his madness.

My 8-Week Arnold-Inspired Training Plan

Ultimately, this is the split I arrived at that closely mimics the Governator’s actual training routine:

• Monday: Chest and Back (Morning), Abs (Evening)
• Tuesday: Legs (Morning), Calves (Evening)
• Wednesday: Shoulders and Arms (Morning), Abs (Evening)
• Thursday: Chest and Back (Morning), Calves (Evening)
• Friday: Legs (Morning), Abs (Evening)
• Saturday: Shoulders and Arms (Morning), Full-Body (Evening)
• Sunday: Rest

As you can probably tell, this training routine isn’t for the weakhearted. It involves training the same muscle group twice weekly. This approach ensures each muscle group is getting ample stimulation to maximize hypertrophy and strength gains. (1)

Even though I hit each muscle multiple times, I did different movements in each session to keep things exciting.

Doing the same thing over and over again is one of the fastest ways to hit a strength and muscle plateau. Adding variations to your routine keeps the muscles guessing and ensures consistent progress.

Arnold’s 8-Week Training Program

With all that out of the way, here is Arnie’s six days a week, double-split routine that pushed my body to the limits:

Monday: Chest and Back (Morning)

In the morning session, I targeted the chest and back with heavy compound lifts to spark new growth. As I paired this program with a bulking phase, I kept the overall volume pretty high, as I was confident I could recover from it optimally.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Barbell Bench Press	4	8-12	90-120
Incline Dumbbell Press	4	8-12	90-120
Bent-Over Barbell Rows	4	8-12	90-120
Wide-Grip Pull-ups	3	To Failure	90-120
Dumbbell Pullovers	3	10-15	60-90
Cable Crossovers	3	12-15	60-90

Monday: Abs (Evening)

Evenings focused on core strength for better balance and stability, so my spine could handle heavier loads safely.

I highly recommend easing into these workouts. Avoid doing five core exercises in a workout if you’ve never done more than a couple of exercises in a session. I’ve made this mistake, and the ab cramps are unbearable.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Crunches	3	20-25	45-60
Lying Leg Raises	3	15-20	45-60
Russian Twists	3	15-20 (each side)	45-60
Reverse Crunches	3	15-20	45-60
Bicycle Crunches	3	15-20 (each side)	45-60

Tuesday: Legs (Morning)

Legs are undoubtedly the most brutal workout of this routine. The worst part is that the punishment didn’t end in the morning. I had to return for a calf session in the evening to ensure balanced development.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Barbell Squats	4	8-12	90-120
Leg Press	4	10-15	90-120
Leg Extensions	3	12-15	60-90
Lying Leg Curls	3	12-15	60-90
Walking Lunges	3	10-12 (each leg)	60-90

Tuesday: Calves (Evening)

I pushed for heavier weights in each session while maintaining a full range of motion. Limiting the rest time between sets helped set my calves on fire.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Standing Calf Raises	4	15-20	30-60
Seated Calf Raises	4	15-20	30-60
Calf Press on Leg Press Machine	3	15-20	30-60

Wednesday: Shoulders and Arms (Morning)

A V-taper improves your overall physique aesthetics by adding to the illusion of broader shoulders and a narrower waist. Training the deltoids from every angle using multiple exercises is key for achieving this goal.

I paired shoulder movements with biceps and triceps exercises to round out the first half of the weekly split.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Barbell Overhead Press	4	8-12	90-120
Seated Dumbbell Press	3	10-12	90-120
Barbell Curls	3	8-12	60-90
Close-Grip Bench Press	3	8-12	60-90
Dumbbell Lateral Raises	3	12-15	60-90
Triceps Pushdowns	3	12-15	60-90

Wednesday: Abs (Evening)

Focus on your breathing while performing these exercises to keep your midsection tight.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Hanging Leg Raises	3	15-20	60-90
Cable Crunches	3	15-20	60-90
Plank	3	60-90 seconds (hold)	60-90
Side Planks	3	30-45 seconds (each side)	45-60
Ab Rollouts	3	10-15	60-90

Thursday: Chest and Back (Morning)

The second chest and back day maximized upper-body volume. I employed a slow, controlled rep tempo to increase the time under tension (TUT) and ignite new muscle growth.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Incline Barbell Press	4	8-12	90-120
Flat Dumbbell Flyes	3	12-15	60-90
T-Bar Rows	4	8-12	90-120
Lat Pulldowns (Wide-Grip)	4	10-15	90-120
Seated Cable Rows	3	10-15	60-90
Decline Dumbbell Press	3	10-12	90-120

Thursday: Calves (Evening)

Switch up your foot position while performing these calf movements to hit the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles from different angles, and ensure overall development.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Donkey Calf Raises	4	15-20	60-90
Single-Leg Calf Raises (with dumbbell)	3	15-20 (each leg)	60-90
Standing Calf Machine Raises	3	15-20	60-90

Friday: Legs (Morning)

The second leg session is all about improving symmetry and conditioning. You don’t have to push for heavier weights, but you should focus on achieving a deep stretch and sharp contraction with every rep.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Romanian Deadlifts	4	8-12	90-120
Hack Squats	4	10-15	90-120
Seated Leg Curls	3	12-15	60-90
Glute-Ham Raises	3	10-15	60-90
Goblet Squats	3	12-15	60-90

Friday: Abs (Evening)

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Decline Bench Crunches	3	20-25	45-60
Hanging Knee Raises	3	15-20	60-90
Cable Wood Chops	3	10-12 (each side)	60-90
Machine Crunches	3	15-20	45-60
Bird-Dog	3	10-12 (each side)	45-60

Saturday: Shoulders and Arms (Morning)

Since this is the final workout of the week, you have to make it count and earn your rest day.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	4	8-12	90-120
Front Raises (Barbell or Dumbbell)	3	10-15	60-90
Concentration Curls	3	10-12 (each arm)	60-90
Overhead Dumbbell Extension	3	10-12	60-90
Hammer Curls	3	10-12	60-90
Dips (Triceps focus)	3	To Failure	60-90

Saturday: Full-Body (Evening)

Instead of training abs again, I did a full-body routine comprising compound movements like power cleans, push presses, and box jumps to boost functional strength and improve my performance in day-to-day activities and sports.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Power Cleans	3	5-8	120-180
Push Press	3	6-10	90-120
Box Jumps	3	8-10	60-90
Kettlebell Swings	3	15-20	60-90
Renegade Rows	3	8-10 (each side)	60-90

What I Loved: The Highs of Training Like Arnold 

Arnold’s routine combined raw power and aesthetics, and I built my plan around his favorite lifts, emphasizing compound movements for mass and isolation exercises for detail. This approach ensures I left no muscle untouched. Here are the highlights from this workout program, with benefits I had expected and some that came as a shock:

Pumps

Doing four sets of an exercise with heavy weights and a picture-perfect form is bound to get you mind-numbing muscle pumps. I had moments where my muscles felt like they were about to burst (in a good way).

Training for muscle pumps is Arnie’s holy grail, and it definitely got me hooked. I must add that a muscle pump isn’t just physically satisfying. It is also incredibly motivating.

Physical Transformation

You might train as hard as ever, but it is of no use unless you see the desired results. By Week Eight, I noticed an immense improvement in my pecs, and my arms swelled by over an inch. Besides that, I got stronger in virtually every exercise, which also boosted my overall work capacity and functionality.

Discipline, Confidence, and Resilience

Training twice a day, six times a week for two months is no joke. It builds grit and sharpens focus.

Furthermore, pushing past failure on heavy squats builds confidence, which spills into other areas of your life. Believe me when I tell you this: training like Arnold can rewire your mind and build grit with every rep.

Better Sleep and Appetite: Unexpected Wins

Training so hard rewrote my habits. I fell asleep faster, slept deeper, and woke up refreshed for the first time in years. It also made me more considerate about my nutrition, as I tried to eat cleaner so that I could make the most of my training.

What I Hated: The Struggles and Setbacks

Arnie is the OG pump chaser, and that was my primary objective during these eight weeks. However, it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

Physical Challenges

Make no mistake, training like Arnold will lead to bone-deep aches, which will make even climbing stairs feel like a punishment.

I had to battle relentless soreness during the sixth week as the overall training volume finally caught up to me. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) became my constant companion, making simple tasks like tying my shoes feel like a chore.

Although I still managed to get through my morning sessions, I had to drag through the evening shifts. The overall volume and frequency, combined with only one day off from training, pushed me close to exhaustion.

This was a humbling reminder that even fit bodies buckle under Arnold’s intensity.

Injury and Exhaustion

High volume training without optimal preparation is like flirting with danger. Although I did not suffer an injury during this eight-week program, my shoulders and lower back definitely felt its burden.

There were days when I had to scale back the reps and sets, and add active recovery techniques like foam rolling to my routine to counter the fatigue.

You must learn to listen to your body and adjust your workouts depending on how you feel if you want a long lifting career that is not plagued with injuries.

Time Commitments

This schedule demands 10-12 hours a week in the gym. Each session lasts anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes and will leave you running on fumes.

Honestly, this split is not feasible for everyone.

If you think about it, this is also the reason why almost no one has a physique like Arnold’s.

My Stats and Progress

It’ll be unfair to give you this Arnold-inspired eight-week program and not share how it impacted my performance and physique aesthetics.

I tracked three key metrics to measure my transformation: strength, reps, and body measurements. Here’s how I did:

Strength Gains

I logged every metric in my phone’s notes app to keep track of my progress. My strength across almost every lift climbed during these two months. For instance, my bench press went from 185 pounds for eight reps to 225 pounds for eight. Squats jumped from 225 pounds to 275.

Reps and Endurance

Leveraging progressive overload, I aimed to increase reps within the 6-12 range before adding weight. By Week Six, I hit 12 pull-ups with a 25-pound plate, a milestone that felt like a personal victory.

Body Measurements

I measured my chest, arms, thighs, and waist with a tape measure every two weeks. My chest grew from 42 to 44 inches, arms from 14 to 15.5 inches, and thighs from 22 to 24 inches. I must add that my waist stayed steady at 32 inches, signaling that I gained muscle without fat.

Visuals

Sometimes, bodyweight and tape measurements don’t do your progress justice, as your body might be undergoing recomposition. I snapped weekly progress photos and witnessed steady improvements in my delts and lats from the fourth week onwards.

Tips for Training Like Arnold Without Breaking

Treat this program like a blueprint if you plan to adopt it. I scaled the volume and intensity according to my current fitness levels and goals, and you should do the same.

Putting your body under stress that it is not ready for is a recipe for disaster.

Also, you must begin every workout with a 5 to 10-minute warm-up routine comprising dynamic stretches. It can help push blood into the target muscles, improve performance, and limit injury risk.

Similarly, end with a static stretching cool-down routine to flush the metabolites out of the muscle tissues, boost mobility, and kickstart the recovery process.

Conclusion

Training like Arnold can be challenging and rewarding at the same time. I devised an eight-week program after researching his training principles, and the results were nothing short of magical. However, you must weigh the pros and cons before adopting this program.

Consistency and discipline are the most important factors when it comes to achieving your training objective. Start small and slowly increase the volume, intensity, and frequency as you gain more experience. Best of luck!

References:

1. Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2016 Nov;46(11):1689-1697. doi: 10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8. PMID: 27102172.

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