What can we say about Arnold Schwarzenegger that we haven’t already said a million times before? It’s Arnold.
But, despite being fairly unanimously renowned as the GOAT in the bodybuilding world, Arnold was always conscious that his leg growth couldn’t keep up with his mammoth upper body. He even notoriously went as far as cutting all of his trousers in half so he couldn’t hide his calves, hoping that this would motivate him to train them harder.
During his reign as Mr. Olympia, Arnold seemingly solved this problem. Incorporating this two-session leg day enabled him to hit his pins with a new level of ferocity, and this jump in intensity level seemingly helped him unlock new leg growth.
By splitting his five movements across two sessions – three in the morning, two in the evening – Arnold was able to push harder through the final two movements, hitting them relatively fresh versus going into them carrying the fatigue of the three prior lifts. This allowed him to eke out important extra reps and more muscle-swelling intensity.
Modern science would tell you that training each body part more than once per week is your best shot at breaking through those muscle-building plateaus, and that these two leg sessions are better off performed on different days to make the most of muscle protein synthesis. If you want to smash this leg day the same way Arnold did, however, perform session one in the morning, then come back in the evening, relatively recovered and fuelled, and hit session two.
Schwarzenegger claimed to have taken each set to failure, and splitting his workouts into multiple sessions would certainly have helped him to maintain this level of intensity. For us mortals, we still want to push ourselves right out of our comfort zone, ensuring we’re leaving no more than 2-3 reps in the tank on each set, but also remaining conscious that our form doesn’t break down too much.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Double Leg Day
Workout 1 (AM)
1. Barbell Back Squat – 5 x 8 reps
With your feet at shoulder width, secure a barbell on your back, across the top of your shoulders, gripping it hard. Maintain an upright torso and push your hips back, bending your knees until the crease of your hips drops below your knees. Stand back up explosively, take a breath and repeat.
2. Front Squat – 5 x 8-10 reps
With your feet at shoulder width, hold a barbell across your chest, lifting your elbows high to secure the bar on your shoulders. Maintain an upright torso and push your hips back, bending your knees until the crease of your hips drops below your knees. Stand back up explosively, take a breath and repeat.
3. Leg Press – 5 x 10 reps
Set yourself up on a leg press machine with your back flat against the pad and feet shoulder-width apart on the platform. Create tension through your core and push through your feet to extend your legs, avoiding full lockout at the knees. Slowly lower the platform under control until your thighs pass a a 90-degree angle. Repeat, maintaining tension in your legs throughout.
Workout 2 (PM)
1. Leg Extension – 5 x 10 reps
Sit on the leg extension machine with your back flat against the pad and your knees aligned with the machine’s pivot point. Position your shins behind the padded bar and grip the handles to help you create tension. Extend your legs fully, squeezing your quads at the top. Lower the weight under control back to the start position, but keeping tension on your quads, then repeat. Maintain a controlled movement throughout to maximise muscle engagement.
2. Lying Hamstring Curl – 5 x 10 reps
Lie face down on the hamstring curl machine with your legs fully extended and the pad positioned just above your heels. Grip the handles to help you create tension. Curl your legs upwards by contracting your hamstrings, bringing your heels as close to your glutes as possible. Squeeze briefly at the top, then lower the weight under control until your legs are fully extended. Repeat, keeping your hips and torso stable throughout.
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With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.
