Build muscle all over with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s triple superset workout

If your week hasn’t hit off as you’d hoped and you’re having to give the gym a miss, look no further. The king of bodybuilding, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has shared a full-body workout in his Pump Club Newsletter, that you can blast through at home with just a pair of dumbbells. Inspired by Arnie’s Golden Era training, it combines upper and lower body supersets to help you build maximum muscle in minimal time.

To make sure no stone is left unturned, Arnold’s focused on the main movement patterns: squat, hinge, push and pull – so that you're not just building isolated strength, but a well-rounded, functional physique. Although, if you particularly like training arms, there’s a bicep-focused finisher using one of Arnold’s favourite training techniques.

You’ve got four supersets in total to work through. Rest for 60 seconds between each superset exercise, then take a two-minute rest, then repeat the superset again. Once you’ve completed three sets, move onto the next one. The last exercise is a little bit different and uses one of Arnold’s favourite training techniques – the ‘stripping method’. With a little sweat and determination, we reckon you’ll be able to blast through this in 40 minutes, maybe even 35. Here’s the workout:

Superset 1

• 1A. Dumbbell goblet squat – 3 x 12 reps
• 1B. Dumbbell bench press – 3 x 12 reps

Superset 2

• 2A. Dumbbell bent-over row – 3 x 12 reps
• 2B. Dumbbell Romanian deadlift – 3 x 8 reps

Superset 3

• 3A. Dumbbell shoulder press – 3 x 10 reps
• 3B. Reverse lunges – 3 x 8 reps per leg

Finisher: Bicep curls (stripping method)

• Use a dumbbell weight that you can curl for 8-10 reps. Do as many reps as you can, then drop the weight by 5lbs and do as many reps as you can. Repeat this until you can no longer do any more reps. If you don’t have access to different weighted dumbbells, just do two sets of 8-10 reps, then immediately after your final set do as many reps as possible.

Full-body complete! Now, why not schedule some core work for later during the week? This 8-minute upright ab workout involves no floor exercises (so no dreaded sit-ups); all the exercises are done standing and you'll just need your dumbbells. If, however, it's another full-body workout you're after, then here's another one from Arnie. It'll only take you 30 minutes and uses lots of compound exercises to help build strength and give a cardio boost.