Arms Like Arnold Schwarzenegger: Pack a Lunch

A glimpse into high-volume arm training from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding prime.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s arm training routine is the kind of old-school resistance training that makes modern lifters blink twice: huge volume, relentless frequency, biceps, triceps, forearms, barbells, dumbbells, benches, cables, and hours in the gym. Marty Gallagher uses Arnold’s exact peak-era arm routine to show what high-volume bodybuilding really looked like before cardio became part of the modern contest-prep template.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and the High-Volume Bodybuilding Era

Arnold Schwarzenegger, despite being decades past his competitive peak, still has a magnetic hold on alpha males, even to this day. His impact is undeniable and his physique inspired generations of young alpha males to take up weight training or up their current training. Boys worldwide wanted muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger and he never failed to display them prominently in his movies. He was a superhero come to life and amongst the toxic masculinity crowd, that never goes out of style.

So how did Arnold Schwarzenegger train? How did he build the body that inspired generations? You got a glimpse of how he trained in the ancient movie Pumping Iron: what was always shocking to me was just how much Arnold trained. It is mind-blowing how many hours he put in at the gym each week. He trained twice a day, six days a week. And all that was devoted strictly to weight training; cardio was not done by bodybuilders of the Arnold era.

Everyone loved Arnold’s arms which were, at the time, far and away the best arms anyone had ever seen. While Freddy Ortiz and Robbie Robinson both had arms with the peak, the shape and symmetry as good as Arnold Schwarzenegger, neither had the sheer size of Arnold’s arms. There was a sameness as to how bodybuilders of that era trained. The other top bodybuilders of the day, Bill Pearl, Reg Park, Sergio, Ferrigno, Zane, Franco, Serge Nubret, et al, all were high-volume, high-frequency trainers. That was the accepted orthodoxy of the day.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Arm Training Routine

We present to you one thin sliver of Arnold’s overall training regimen. This is the exact training routine Arnold used to train his guns at the absolute peak of his bodybuilding career. I gleaned this priceless information from a rare copy of Rick Wayne’s 1978 classic bodybuilding training book, 3 More Reps, The Science of Advanced Bodybuilding. In it, Arnold Schwarzenegger lays out his overall training strategy.

Wayne’s book was all about training. In volume 1 he outlines the exact training, all in their peak years, of Arnold, Franco, Robbie Robinson, Frank Zane, Mike Mentzer, and Ed Corney. Rather than try and zero in on the entirety of Arnold’s training, we decided to isolate his bicep/tricep routine: he trained them, biceps and triceps, in straight-set style, no super-setting. He was an expert exercise technician that made, for the bodybuilder, the critical mind-muscle connection that enabled him to zero in on exactly the muscle he wanted to isolate and stress.

Bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger arm training routine

Seven arm exercises, 42 sets. Arnold did this routine THREE TIMES A WEEK. Add it up snowflake, 126 sets of biceps and triceps per week! Oh, but wait! The bad news gets worse: guess what else the Austrian Oak did? Three other days a week he performed three forearm exercises.

Arnold Schwarzenegger forearm training

18 sets per session. 54 sets per week. Add this 54 sets of weekly forearm work to his 126 sets of biceps/triceps and you arrive at a grand total of 180 sets per week, for arms alone! As we have mentioned in prior columns, at his awesome peak, prior to winning his 7th Mr. Olympia, Arnold Schwarzenegger was performing 700 sets per week. He fit it in by going to the gym twice a day, six days a week.

Arnold’s Weekly Bodybuilding Training Split

Starting in the late 1980s, bodybuilders began to include cardiovascular exercise as a regular part of the bodybuilding template. Cardio was used to pursue the extremely lean condition routinely seen in the modern IFBB pro bodybuilder. Back in Arnold’s day, champion bodybuilders were competing and winning at higher body fat levels than modern competitors. Arnold at his peak was lean, huge and full, yet his era did not combine marathon weight training with structured cardio. Could you imagine trying to weave a cardio regimen into his marathon approach?

Could a Modern Lifter Train Arms Like Arnold?

Obviously, this kind of volume requires a tremendous amount of time. Add to the gym time showering and travel time to and from the gym. Weight training, Arnold-style, is damn near a fulltime job. Yet, he was hardly alone. Arnold, Draper, Sergio, Robbie, Franco, Waller, Zane and all the other all-time greats of that era used this super high-volume, high-frequency training approach. That they got results is undeniable. If it is necessary is debatable.

Want to train like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Pack a lunch, you’re going to be in the gym awhile. If you decided to go full Arnold, train the arms three times a week: three bicep and four tricep exercises for six sets per exercise. I would drop the forearms; biceps and triceps alone come to 120-plus cumulative sets of arms per week.

I would suggest that in order to save time, super-set, alternate, biceps and triceps: set of biceps, set of triceps, rest; set of biceps, set of triceps, rest. Even by using the time-saving super-setting tactic, be prepared to train biceps/triceps for 60-minutes thrice weekly. If anyone tries this, let us know the results. It would likely require a 90-day commitment. Good luck. God Speed!

Equipment Pairings for Arnold-Style Arm Training

Arnold’s arm routine was built on basics: barbells, dumbbells, benches, cable pushdowns, and enough weight plates to add progressive loading set after set. The routine is extreme, but the equipment requirements are not mysterious. A serious home gym, school weight room, commercial fitness facility, first responder gym, or military training room can build the arm-training foundation around dependable free weights and repeatable loading.

For barbell curls, close grip bench presses, nose-breakers and other upper-body strength training, lifters can compare Olympic weightlifting bars, the Body-Solid black oxide Olympic weightlifting bar, the IRON COMPANY urethane barbell set, and pro-style rubber encased fixed barbell sets. For dumbbell curls, concentration curls, and dumbbell triceps presses, options include American Barbell Series 1 urethane dumbbells and rubber hex dumbbell sets.

Benches and cable stations matter when the goal is to recreate the movement menu without improvising every exercise. Facilities can compare weight benches, the Body-Solid ProClub Line adjustable bench, the TKO Signature preacher curl weight bench, and broader functional training equipment such as the Spirit Fitness dual stack functional trainer for cable pushdowns and other controlled resistance training variations. For loading, urethane Olympic plates with grips can support clean, organized free-weight training where the barbell work is central.

Training Note

This article is historical bodybuilding and resistance training commentary, not a universal prescription. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s high-volume arm training routine was performed by an elite bodybuilder in a very specific competitive era. High-volume biceps training, triceps training, close grip bench presses, nose-breakers, dumbbell curls, cable pushdowns, and forearm work should be matched to the lifter’s training age, recovery capacity, joints, schedule, coaching, and goals. The lesson is not that every lifter needs 180 weekly arm sets; the lesson is that Arnold’s arms were built with staggering workload, technical focus, and relentless consistency.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arm Training FAQ

How did Arnold Schwarzenegger train arms?

Arnold trained biceps and triceps with a high-volume bodybuilding routine built around barbell cheat curls, seated dumbbell curls, dumbbell concentration curls, close grip bench presses, cable pushdowns, nose-breakers, and dumbbell tricep presses. Marty’s source lists 42 direct biceps and triceps sets per arm session.

How many arm sets did Arnold perform each week?

According to the routine Marty discusses, Arnold performed 42 direct biceps and triceps sets three times per week, for 126 weekly sets. He also trained forearms three times per week for another 54 sets, bringing the total to 180 weekly arm and forearm sets.

What biceps exercises did Arnold use in this routine?

The biceps portion included barbell cheat curls, seated dumbbell curls, and dumbbell concentration curls. The barbell cheat curl was listed as Arnold’s favorite, with poundage added on each set.

What triceps exercises did Arnold use in this routine?

The triceps portion included close grip bench presses, cable pushdowns, nose-breakers, and dumbbell tricep presses. These movements hit the triceps from heavy pressing, cable isolation, and extension-based angles.

Should modern lifters train arms exactly like Arnold?

Most modern lifters should be cautious. Arnold’s routine required enormous time, recovery ability, and discipline. Marty suggests that anyone trying a version of this approach should expect a major time commitment and may want to omit the forearm work or use supersets to save time.

What equipment supports Arnold-style arm training?

A practical setup includes barbells, dumbbells, weight plates, a stable adjustable bench, a preacher curl bench if desired, and a cable or functional trainer for pushdowns. The exact equipment depends on the facility, training volume, and user population.

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About the Author 

As an athlete Marty Gallagher is a national and world champion in Olympic lifting and powerlifting. He was a world champion team coach in 1991 and coached Black's Gym to five national team titles. He's also coached some of the strongest men on the planet including Kirk Karwoski when he completed his world record 1,003 lb. squat. Today he teaches the US Secret Service and Tier 1 Spec Ops on how to maximize their strength in minimal time. As a writer since 1978 he’s written for Powerlifting USA, Milo, Flex Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Prime Fitness, Washington Post, Dragon Door and now IRON COMPANY. He’s also the author of numerous books including Purposeful Primitive, Strong Medicine, Ed Coan’s book “Coan, The Man, the Myth, the Method" and numerous others. Read the Marty Gallagher biography here.