Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mass-Building Workout Routine - 'The Golden Six'

I have written many times about benefits of full-body workouts for building strength and muscle and 'The Golden Six' is the routine that got 'The Austrian Oak' started in bodybuilding. 

It is certainly one of the best workout routines for muscle growth that I recommend to all beginners and to lifters that are looking to change their routine that stopped producing new muscle gains.

Same as his idol and mentor Reg Park, Arnold Schwarzenegger also built his impressive foundation on full-body workouts. Many years later Arnold became famous as a fan of the high volume body part split routines, but honestly, I think that he gained most of his muscles by following  Reg Park's 5x5 Workout Program and his own full-body routine 'The Golden Six'. And he started favoring these high volume split routines in the time when he was experimenting with anabolic steroids.

This workout program was nicknamed 'The Golden Six' for its straightforward focus on six of the most basic exercises. This may not be a routine that you will use forever but it is great for beginning lifters and those who want to get back to basics with one of the simplest workouts. Also, one of the good things is that you only need to visit gym three times per week.

EXERCISE	SETS	REPS
Barbell Squat	4	10
Wide Grip Bench Press	3	10
Chin Up	3	Max
Behind The Neck Press	4	10
Barbell Curl	3	10
Bent Knee Sit Up	3-4	Max

Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended performing "The Golden Six" workout routine 3 times per week for a 3-month cycle. Once you become able to do 2 or more reps above the reps given in this workout plan increase the weight. It is very important to add more weight plates whenever possible to force your muscles to adapt and grow.

This classic full-body routine is ideal for beginners and hardgainers that are looking to gain muscle mass fast. It is simple and effective like most full-body workouts and doesn't leave any muscle group unattended.

Mass-Building Full-Body Workout Routine for Beginners

The best way for beginning lifters to gain more strength and muscle mass is to follow a full-body workout routine. I recommend to all gym starters not to follow workout programs of popular bodybuilders. The reason for that is that most of them are using anabolic steroids.

Many bodybuilding legends including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, and Reg Park used Full-Body Workouts to build their big muscular bodies and they were forgotten soon as new generations of bodybuilders came on the scene and steroids became popular. That caused such popularity of training splits because modern bodybuilders saw that with training splits they could train longer and recover quickly.

It is true that training splits are easier workouts and muscles recover faster than with full-body workouts. But for natural lifters, especially beginners, the best way to build muscle mass fast is with full-body workout routines. 



The benefit of full-body workouts is activation of more muscle groups which stimulate more muscle growth. In the contrary of training splits, full-body workouts cause more muscle activation and muscles need more time recover, so you need to make at least two rest days between the training days.




Other facts about the full-body workout:


- 3 Weekly Workouts, I don't recommend more because full-body workouts are harder than training splits and by following a full-body routine your muscles will require more time to recover.


- Full-Body workout routines mainly consist of compound movements which are the best muscle mass, builders. Performing of compound exercises involves more muscle groups which also stimulate HGH (human growth hormone).




Muscle Palace Full-Body Workout Routine:




Monday:

EXERCISE	REPS	SETS
Barbell Squat	8-10	3
Bench Press	8-10	3
Lat Pull Down	8-12	3
Upright Row	10-12	3
Barbell Curl	10-12	2
Skull Crusher	10-12	2
Sit Ups	10-20	2

Wednesday:

EXERCISE	REPS	SETS
Deadlift	6-8	3
Incline Dumbbell  Press	8-10	3
Leg Extension	8-12	3
Side Lateral Raise	10-12	3
Dumbbell Triceps Extension	10-12	3
Hammer Curl	10-12	3
Rear Lateral Raise	10-12	3
Seated Calf Raise	10-12	3

Friday:

EXERCISE	REPS	SETS
Leg Press	10-12	3
Military Press	8-10	3
Dumbbell Fly	10-12	3
Pull Up	10-12	3
Close Grip Bench Press	10-12	3
Concentration Curl	10-12	3
Dumbbell Shrug	12-15	2
Knee Raise	15-20	2

This is the 3-day Full-Body Workout Routine that I recommend for all beginning lifters that are looking for a way to build muscle mass fast. It won't be easy to perform this workout so don't try doing them for two or more days in a row. That can definitely lead you to overtrain of your muscles and slow down your muscles growth. Besides good rest and muscle recover, you are also going to need a good diet plan and a lot of healthy calories to gain muscle mass with this workout routine. Check out the list of foods that you should add to your diet plan:

20 Foods You Should Eat to Gain Muscle Mass

Also, some of the supplements could help a lot because you will need to consume some additional nutrients to help you build muscle mass faster:

Best Muscle-Building Supplements to Build Muscle Mass Fast