Fitness coach Jeff Cavaliere made time to analyze one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most popular workout routines. In a recent YouTube video shared on October 21, 2024, Cavaliere critiqued Schwarzenegger’s Golden Six exercises that he used to win seven Mr. Olympia contests in his prime.
During the 1970s-80s, Arnold Schwarzenegger presented arguably one of the most complete physiques the bodybuilding world ever witnessed. His large clavicle bones, symmetrical structure, and sheer mass set the standard in the Men’s Open division for years.
Fans have long wondered about the exact exercises ‘The Austrian Oak’ implemented to establish himself as an all-time great, and now we have answers. He relied on these six movements to tax the entire body, and the results were undeniable, leading to one of fitness’ most popular voices to break down the iconic routine.
“In the history of bodybuilding, perhaps there’s nobody more recognizable than Arnold Schwarzenegger but were you aware of the workout routine that consisted of six exercises?
Get Fitter, FasterLevel Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!
His Golden Six that he claims is most responsible for him winning seven Mr. Olympias. Today, I’m going to reveal the Golden Six exercises and review them.”
Jeff Cavaliere Reviews Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘Golden Six’ Exercises
Find the exercise selections below:
- Squat (Barbell)
- Barbell Bench Press
- Chin-Ups/Pull-Ups
- Behind-The-Neck Press
- Barbell Curl
- Sit-Ups
Squat (Barbell)
Cavaliere believes the squat is an invaluable exercise to any workout routine and maintains that it deserves its spot in Arnold’s Golden Six. If you have knee problems, Cavaliere says squatting to a box can help.
“There’s no workout program that should avoid the squat or at least some variation of it. I can tell you as someone who has knee problems when I do a classic barbell squat, I found squatting to a box eliminates almost all of those.”
Regardless of where you carry the bar, the squat effectively hits the entire lower body.
“There’s always some version of a squat that you can do that is mandatory, for me at least, in any successful lifting program,” adds Jeff Cavaliere. “He’s a high bar squatter but again, this exercise regardless of where you carry the bar is still going to comprehensively hit your entire lower body.”
Barbell Bench Press
Next, Cavaliere unpacked Schwarzenegger’s use of the barbell bench press, underlining that he implemented a very wide grip.
“You can see when Arnold benched, he had a pretty damn wide grip. You don’t even see his hands in this clip. When you actually get to see his location on the bar as it pulls out here, he’s almost touching the ends of the barbell where you load the plates. It’s incredibly wide. But what you do see from this is this extreme amount of stretch.”
The limited range of motion capitalizes on the lift because the chest is in its most stretched position.
“That limited range of motion is confined to the lower portion of the lift, where the chest is most at stretch,” adds Cavaliere. “You do need some extreme shoulder flexibility and mobility to pull off this version of a bench press.”
Chin-Ups/Pull-Ups
He believes chin-ups deserve a spot in the Golden Six but emphasizes that using a wide grip is not necessary and provides less stimulus on the lats.
“Look at the width once again on the exercise, big wide grip, all the way out to the ends of the pull-up bar. By the way, this isn’t even as wide as I’ve seen him go,” adds Cavaliere. “I don’t believe that while this exercise is amazing and does belong in the Golden Six that doing it with this wide of a grip is necessary.”
“If it’s the lats you’re trying to build, going wider will do less work for the lats. It actually starts to target a muscle called the Terrys major more effectively in the wide grip than it does with the narrow grip.”
Behind-The-Neck Press
Although the behind-the-neck press isn’t one of Cavaliere’s preferred exercises, he believes Schwarzenegger made use of them effectively due to his elbow placement.
“I do believe that there should be a vertical press to compliment the horizontal press in the Golden Six,” says Cavaliere. “I don’t like the behind-the-neck shoulder press however, if there was one exception to the rule, the one guy who probably did it really really well, it was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Why is that? Because of the position of his elbow.”
Barbell Curl
One of Schwarzenegger’s most famous exercises — the barbell curl, is ideal for arm development.
“This is actually the exercise that gets the most contention in terms of his placement in the Golden Six. A lot of people want to see a barbell row in its place. Now, I will say the barbell row is a great exercise but not necessarily the best if you’re looking for direct arm development.”
He believes it deserves its position in the Golden Six, adding that the ‘cheat part’ of the curl is what makes it so effective.
“I believe it deserves to be here,” says Cavaliere. “There’s a lot of cheating and leaning going on. If he did this exercise now, social media would rip him apart. The cheat part is I think one of the most effective parts of the curl.”
Sit-Ups
Since the Golden Six was designed as a holistic approach to muscle growth, Cavaliere believes Schwarzenegger including sit-ups for ab development was warranted.
“The Golden Six was a consolidated workout routine. In other words, every one of these exercises was performed as a part of one single workout. So including an ab exercise like the sit-up would kind of make sense.”
His main issue with the sit-up variation performed by Schwarzenegger is the unintended hip flexor engagement.
“I have a few issues here. This is done the classic way where you hook your feet underneath a pad to be able to pull yourself up to the top. But what we know about this, you get a lot of hip flexor engagement making it less effective for targeting the abs.”
Overall, Jeff Cavaliere understands why Schwarzenegger chose these specific exercises to make up his Golden Six. With slight modifications to chin-ups, behind-the-neck presses, and sit-ups, Cavaliere believes these movements can still offer a range of muscle-building benefits.
Having carved out one of the most successful bodybuilding careers of anyone, fans of the sport are still learning from Schwarzenegger’s methods. The next time you hit the gym, give the Golden Six workout a try, and let us know what you think of it!
RELATED: Jeff Cavaliere Breaks Down Navy SEAL David Goggins’ Workout Routines: How Effective Are They?
Watch the full video from the ATHLEAN-X YouTube channel below:
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
