Big, perfectly rounded delts make good bodies look great. And strong, powerful shoulders make your good lifts even better. In his best days, no bodybuilder was as renowned as Schwarzenegger for his huge arms and thick, muscular delts — and no bodybuilder trained them as hard.
Shoulders are one of those muscle groups which simply refuse to grow after some time in bodybuilding. They hit plateaus fast, and what makes it worse is that young, enthusiastic bodybuilders often fail to realize that shoulders are a complex body part that require more than the usual bunch of presses to be properly stimulated and pushed to grow.
So here’s what Arnold actually did — and why it worked.
Understanding the Deltoid
To cope with the complex movement of the shoulder joint, the deltoid consists of three heads: anterior (front), medial (side) and posterior (rear). This means you need to incorporate a variety of movements into your shoulder training to maximally attack all three heads.
Most guys hammer the front delt with pressing movements and call it a day. The side and rear heads — the ones that actually create width and the 3D cannonball look — get left behind. Arnold understood this early and built his entire shoulder approach around targeting all three heads with equal dedication.
Arnold’s Training Philosophy for Shoulders
Arnold was a known advocate for high volume training. For shoulders and traps, he preferred going as high as 30–50 sets per session, three times per week. That’s extreme by modern standards, but the principle behind it is sound: shoulders respond to frequency and volume more than most muscle groups because they’re involved in almost every upper body movement and recover relatively quickly.
One of the most important messages Arnold has for bodybuilders: when it comes to shoulder training, don’t shy away from hard work.
His approach followed a logical structure:
Start with presses. Seated military press was one of his foundation exercises — he performed countless of them over the years, both to the front and behind the neck. Both versions work the side heads effectively, and he often alternated between the two during the same workout. For more variety and intensity, he would throw in Arnold Presses at the beginning — the exercise that now bears his name.
Follow with raises. After presses, Arnold typically moved to raising movements: lateral raises to further exhaust the side heads, front raises to develop the front heads and bent laterals for the rear delts. He also incorporated lying dumbbell raises and cable variations for added variety.
Finish with trap work. Arnold usually closed his shoulder training with one trap exercise — upright rows, power cleans or shrugs. Pick one and finish strong.
The Arnold Boulder Shoulders Workout
This is Arnold’s full shoulder and trap routine. The superset structure keeps intensity high and forces each muscle group to work while the other recovers — a classic high-volume technique he favored throughout his career.
Superset 1
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Seated Military Press | 5 | 6–10 |
| Lateral Raises | 5 | 8 |
Superset 2
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Machine Press | 5 | 8 |
| Bent Laterals | 5 | 8 |
Superset 3
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Upright Rows | 5 | 10 |
| Cable One-Arm Lateral Raise | 5 | 10 |
Rest minimally between supersets — 60 to 90 seconds. The goal is sustained pump and progressive fatigue across all three delt heads, not maximum strength on any single exercise.
Arnold Press — The Signature Move
If you want to add variety and intensity right at the start of your shoulder session, the Arnold Press is where you begin. Arnold invented it specifically to hit all three deltoid heads simultaneously — something the standard military press and overhead press can’t claim.
How to do it: Start with dumbbells in front of your shoulders, palms facing your body. Press upward while rotating your arms outward so your palms face away from you at the top. Reverse on the way down. The rotation is the mechanism — don’t rush it.
For the complete Arnold Press guide including muscles worked, step-by-step form, common mistakes and programming, see The Arnold Press: Muscles Worked, Proper Form and Benefits.
A Modern Version of Arnold’s Shoulder Routine
If 30–50 sets three times per week sounds like a fast track to injury for your current training level, here’s a scaled version built on the same principles — all three heads trained, presses first, raises second, traps last:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Arnold Press | 4–5 | 8–10 |
| Seated Military Press | 4 | 6–8 |
| Standing Side Lateral Raise | 4–5 | 8–12 |
| Seated Rear Lateral Raise | 4–5 | 8–12 |
| Cable Side Lateral Raise | 3–4 | 10–12 |
| Upright Row or Shrug | 4 | 10–12 |
Run this once or twice per week depending on your overall training volume. Progress the loads gradually — Arnold’s shoulders weren’t built in a month.
The Takeaway
With the right amount of smart exercising, anyone can build impressive shoulders. The key lessons from Arnold’s approach:
- Train all three delt heads — front, side and rear — not just the front
- Start with presses when you’re strongest, move to raises as you fatigue
- Use supersets to maintain intensity without extending session length
- Don’t shy away from volume — shoulders can handle more than most muscle groups
- Finish with trap work every session
Remember that and don’t be afraid to train your shoulders to the max.
For more on the best shoulder exercises, see Best Shoulder Exercises of All Time: 9 Exercises for 3D Shoulders.
