What is the Arnold split?
The Arnold split pairs muscles in a way most modern splits do not. Chest and back, two opposing muscle groups, share a day. Shoulders and arms get a day of their own. Legs get the third. Arnold Schwarzenegger described this structure in his Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding and used it in the 1970s, reportedly with even more volume and sometimes two sessions a day.
- Day 1, chest and back: presses and flyes for the chest, rows and pull-ups for the back, often alternated as supersets.
- Day 2, shoulders and arms: overhead presses and raises, then biceps and triceps.
- Day 3, legs: squats, hinges, leg curls, calves and usually abs.
- Days 4 to 6: repeat. Day 7 is rest.
Pairing chest with back means one muscle rests while the other works. That makes supersets easy: a set of bench press, then a set of pull-ups, then back to the bench. You get more work done in less time, and many lifters find the pump of a chest and back day hard to beat.
The Arnold split workout plan: day-by-day template
Below is a modern version built for natural lifters, with the volume set lower than Arnold's own routines. The A days lean heavier, the B days use other exercises and slightly higher reps. Rest 2 to 3 minutes on the first two exercises and 60 to 90 seconds on the rest.
| # | Chest and back A | Shoulders and arms A | Legs A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bench press, 4 x 6 to 8 | Overhead press, 4 x 6 to 8 | Back squat, 4 x 6 to 8 |
| 2 | Pull-up, 4 x 6 to 10 | Lateral raise, 4 x 12 to 20 | Romanian deadlift, 3 x 8 to 10 |
| 3 | Incline dumbbell press, 3 x 8 to 12 | Rear delt fly, 3 x 12 to 20 | Leg press, 3 x 10 to 15 |
| 4 | Barbell row, 3 x 8 to 10 | Barbell curl, 3 x 8 to 12 | Lying leg curl, 3 x 10 to 15 |
| 5 | Dumbbell fly, 3 x 10 to 15 | Lying triceps extension, 3 x 8 to 12 | Leg extension, 3 x 12 to 15 |
| 6 | Seated cable row, 3 x 10 to 12 | Hammer curl, 3 x 10 to 15 | Standing calf raise, 4 x 10 to 15 |
| 7 | Dips, 2 x 8 to 12 | Triceps pushdown, 3 x 10 to 15 | Hanging knee raise, 3 x 10 to 15 |
| # | Chest and back B | Shoulders and arms B | Legs B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Incline bench press, 4 x 6 to 10 | Dumbbell shoulder press, 4 x 8 to 12 | Front squat, 4 x 6 to 10 |
| 2 | Lat pulldown, 4 x 8 to 12 | Lateral raise, 3 x 12 to 20 | Bulgarian split squat, 3 x 8 to 10 per leg |
| 3 | Dumbbell bench press, 3 x 8 to 12 | Face pull, 3 x 12 to 20 | Hip thrust, 3 x 8 to 12 |
| 4 | Chest-supported row, 3 x 10 to 12 | Dumbbell curl, 3 x 10 to 12 | Seated leg curl, 3 x 10 to 15 |
| 5 | Cable fly, 3 x 12 to 15 | Overhead triceps extension, 3 x 10 to 12 | Walking lunge, 2 x 10 to 12 per leg |
| 6 | Dumbbell row, 3 x 8 to 12 | Chin-up, 2 x 6 to 10 | Seated calf raise, 4 x 12 to 20 |
| 7 | Push-up, 2 x 10 to 20 | Close-grip push-up, 2 x 10 to 15 | Ab wheel rollout, 3 x 8 to 12 |
That is 20 to 23 hard sets per session, which fits in 60 to 75 minutes with supersets. Sets should end with 1 to 3 reps in reserve. If you want more ideas for any day, the chest exercises and back exercises pages list good swaps.
Arnold split schedules: 3, 4, 5 and 6 days
Six days is the original. If you cannot train that often, the split still works, with fewer sessions per muscle.
| Days | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 day (original) | Chest + back A | Shoulders + arms A | Legs A | Chest + back B | Shoulders + arms B | Legs B | Rest |
| 5 day (rotating) | Chest + back | Shoulders + arms | Legs | Rest | Chest + back | Shoulders + arms | Rest |
| 4 day (rotating) | Chest + back | Shoulders + arms | Rest | Legs | Chest + back | Rest | Rest |
| 3 day | Chest + back | Rest | Shoulders + arms | Rest | Legs | Rest | Rest |
- 5 day: the cycle keeps rolling, so next week starts with legs. Every muscle gets trained about 1.7 times a week.
- 4 day: also rotating. It is a good middle ground, but legs drop to about once every 5 to 6 days. Add a few sets of squats or lunges to the shoulders and arms day if legs are a priority.
- 3 day: each muscle once a week. It works, but for most people a full body workout or an upper lower split is the better use of three or four days.
PPL x Arnold split
A popular hybrid runs one round of push, pull and legs followed by one round of the Arnold split: push, pull, legs, chest and back, shoulders and arms, legs. You get a heavy pressing day and a heavy pulling day early in the week and the higher-volume Arnold days later, with each muscle still trained twice.
Who the Arnold split suits
- Good fit: intermediate lifters with at least 6 to 12 months of consistent training who want to build muscle and can train six days a week.
- Good fit: lifters who want more shoulder and arm volume than most splits give. The dedicated arm and shoulder day is the split's selling point.
- Less ideal: beginners. Three full body sessions a week usually build strength and muscle just as well at the start, with half the gym time.
- Less ideal: people focused on strength in the big lifts, or with a busy schedule where missed days break the rotation. A program like 5/3/1 or an upper lower split fits better.
One quirk to know: the front of your shoulders works hard on chest day and again on shoulder day the next morning. If your shoulders feel beaten up, swap the overhead press to the B day only and keep the A shoulder day to raises and rear delt work.
Arnold split vs PPL
Both splits train every muscle twice a week on six days. The difference is how they group muscles.
| Arnold split | Push pull legs | |
|---|---|---|
| Grouping | Chest + back, shoulders + arms, legs | Push (chest, shoulders, triceps), pull (back, biceps), legs |
| Overlap between days | Front delts and triceps work on two days in a row | Little overlap: each day rests the muscles of the last |
| Arm and shoulder volume | High, with a dedicated day | Moderate, split across push and pull days |
| Supersets | Easy: chest and back are opposing muscles | Less natural on push and pull days |
| Best for | Size, especially upper body and arms | Size and strength, a little easier to recover from |
Is the Arnold split better than PPL? Not for everyone. If your arms and shoulders lag, the Arnold split gives them more attention. If you want cleaner recovery between sessions or more focus on heavy presses and pulls, push pull legs is the safer default. Many lifters run one for a few months, then switch to the other for variety.
How to progress on the Arnold split
Use a double progression on every exercise: pick a rep range, and when you reach the top of it in all sets, add the smallest weight step and work back up. This is progressive overload in its simplest form, and it works for both the compound lifts and the isolation work.
- ExampleLateral raise 4 x 12 to 20 with 8 kg dumbbells. Week 1: 15, 14, 13, 12. Week 3: 20, 20, 19, 18. Week 4: 20 on every set, so move to 10 kg and start again around 12 to 14 reps.
- Deload when neededEvery 6 to 8 weeks, or when several lifts stall at once, cut the sets in half for a week. Six days a week adds up.
- Sleep and eat for itHigh training volume only builds muscle if recovery keeps up: enough sleep, enough protein and enough total food.
Run the Arnold split with Gripp
Gripp is coming to iPhone. Log each set and Gripp tells you what to lift next session on every exercise, keeps an estimated 1RM per lift on a chart, and rates each muscle group against people of your age and bodyweight, so you can see whether your arms are actually catching up.
Join the waitlistThe exercises
Barbell bench pressChestGuide
Pull-upLatsGuide
Incline dumbbell pressChest and front deltsGuide
Barbell bent-over rowUpper back and lats
Dumbbell flyChest
Barbell overhead pressFront deltsGuide
Dumbbell lateral raiseSide deltsGuide
Bent-over rear delt flyRear delts
Barbell curlBiceps
Hammer curlBiceps and forearmsGuide
Lying triceps extension (skull crusher)Triceps
Cable triceps pushdownTriceps
Barbell back squatQuads and glutes
Romanian deadliftHamstrings and glutesGuide
Leg pressQuads and glutesGuide
Lying leg curlHamstrings
Standing calf raiseCalves