Arnold Schwarzenegger's Golden Six Program Explained

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Golden Six routine is a classic full-body hypertrophy workout that was popularized by the legendary bodybuilder and actor during the early stages of his career. This program is often recommended for beginners - it's very simple, contains compound exercises, and provides enough volume and frequency for beginners. It's also pretty short - only takes about an hour to finish the workout.

Intermediate / advanced lifters would benefit more from other hypertrophy programs that provide more volume and exercise selection, like 5/3/1 Boring But Big, Dr. Swole Upper Lower program, etc.

The program is very simple - it's just 6 exercises repeated per day, 3 days a week, on alternate days.

  1. 1.

    Squats: 4 sets of 10 reps.

    Squats are fundamental for building strength in the lower body and core.

  2. 2.

    Wide-Grip Bench Press: 3 sets of 10 reps.

    This exercise targets the chest, shoulders, and triceps, with an emphasis on the chest. The wide grip is specifically good for working the pectoral muscles

  3. 3.

    Chin-Ups: AMRAP (as many reps as possible)

    If you can't do any of these, consider using an assisted chin-up machine or do negative chin-ups to start. These primarily work your back and biceps.

  4. 4.

    Behind-the-Neck Press: 4 sets of 10 reps.

    This exercise targets the shoulders and triceps. Be careful with the 'behind-the-neck' part, it can be tough on the shoulders if done improperly. If it feels uncomfortable, a traditional overhead press to the front is a good alternative.

  5. 5.

    Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 10 reps.

    This exercise primarily targets the biceps. Be sure to keep your elbows still throughout the curl to ensure proper muscle engagement. If it feels uncomfortable, a dumbbell curl might be a good alternative.

  6. 5.

    Bent Knee Sit-Ups: AMRAP (as many reps as possible)

    This is a good exercise to develop your core.

For progression, you do the last set as AMRAP - as many reps as possible. For Chin-Ups and Crunches, next time you'll have to do at least as many as you were able to do this time + one more rep. And for the rest of the exercises, if you've achieved at least 13 reps, you should increase your weight by 5lb or 2.5kg in your next workout.

Muscle Balance

Muscles used, relatively to each other
Shoulders
100%
Chest
86%
Glutes
74%
Back
73%
Abs
73%
Biceps
69%
Quadriceps
57%
Triceps
30%
Forearms
26%
Hamstrings
17%
Calves
17%

Try it out in the interactive playground!

Tap on squares to finish sets. Tap multiple times to reduce completed reps. Finish the workout and see what the workout will look like next time (with possibly updated weights, reps and sets).

For convenience, you can finish all the sets of an exercise by clicking on the icon. And you can adjust the exercise variables (weight, reps, TM, RIR, etc.) by clicking on the icon.

Day 1

Squat
Barbell
Warmup
Warmup
Bench Press Wide Grip
Barbell
Warmup
Warmup
Chin Up
Bodyweight
Overhead Press
Barbell
Warmup
Bicep Curl
Dumbbell
Crunch
Bodyweight
You can use this program on Liftosaur - a weightlifting tracker app!
  • Log your workouts there, and have a history of all your workouts on your phone
  • It will automatically update weights, reps and sets for you from workout to workout - according to the program logic
  • And you can customize the programs in any way, change exercises, the exercise logic, sets/reps/weights, etc.
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