Sam Sulek is everywhere. If you’ve spent more than five minutes on fitness social media, you’ve seen the car vlogs, the oversized hats, and the freakish physique that seems to defy the laws of natural physics. People are obsessed. But beneath the "hostile" lifestyle and the gallon of chocolate milk, everyone is asking the same thing: what is Sam Sulek's split, and why does it look so different from what the "optimal" science-based lifters recommend?
Honestly, his approach is a throwback. While the rest of the world is arguing over RPE, Mike Israetel’s volume landmarks, and perfect eccentric tempos, Sam is basically just going to the gym and training until he can’t move. It’s raw. It’s intense. And for him, it clearly works.
The Core Breakdown: What is Sam Sulek's Split?
Basically, Sam runs a classic four-day body-part split. He doesn’t really do rest days in the traditional sense—he just cycles through these four days and takes a break if he feels like his body is actually falling apart. Most of the time, he's in the gym seven days a week.
Day 1: Chest and Side Delts
This is usually where the week starts. He loves incline movements. You’ll see him hammering heavy incline barbell presses or Smith machine inclines. He believes the upper chest is what creates that "armor plate" look. He follows the heavy pressing with cable flyes and then moves straight into side lateral raises. He doesn't have a dedicated "shoulder day." He just throws side delts on chest day and rear delts on back day.
Day 2: Back and Rear Delts
Sam’s back training is all about the pump and heavy rows. He usually alternates between a vertical pull (like lat pulldowns) and a horizontal pull (like chest-supported rows). He isn't afraid of "ego lifting" here—he'll use some momentum if it means moving a massive amount of weight, then he'll finish with rear delt flyes until his shoulders look like they're about to pop.
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Day 3: Arms (Biceps and Triceps)
This is probably his most famous day. He trains arms with a level of volume that would make a marathon runner tired. He often starts with triceps, using cable pushdowns to get the blood flowing before moving into heavy skull crushers or machine dips. For biceps, it’s a mix of heavy alternating dumbbell curls and various cable curls. He’s a big fan of the "face pull" style bicep curl on the lat pulldown machine, which looks weird but provides a crazy stretch.
Day 4: Legs (Quads and Hamstrings)
Leg day is brutal but surprisingly simple. He usually hits hamstrings first with seated or lying leg curls. Why? Because he says it makes his knees feel better for the heavy stuff later. Then comes the quads: hack squats, leg presses, and leg extensions. He often finishes with a single "top set" of squats that is absolutely soul-crushing.
Training to Failure: The 96% Rule
A major analysis of Sam’s training by experts like Jeff Nippard revealed something insane: Sam trains to failure on about 96% of his sets. In the world of modern sports science, that is considered "suboptimal" because of the fatigue it generates. Most people would burn out in three weeks doing this.
But Sam isn't most people. He uses "intensifiers" like partial reps at the end of a set—what he calls "freak reps"—to squeeze out every last bit of growth. If he can’t do a full rep, he’ll do half reps. If he can’t do half reps, he’ll just hold the weight. It’s complete muscular annihilation.
Why This Split Works (And Why It Might Not for You)
You’ve got to realize that Sam is a professional. He’s currently prepping for the 2026 Arnold Classic, and his life is entirely built around recovery. He eats 5,000+ calories on a bulk, sleeps plenty, and has the genetics of a superhero.
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For a natural lifter, following the Sam Sulek split exactly might be a recipe for tendonitis or overtraining. Most people need more than zero rest days. However, there’s a massive lesson to be learned from him: intensity matters. A lot of people spend too much time worrying about the perfect program and not enough time actually pushing themselves in the gym.
The 2026 Arnold Classic Prep: Does the Split Change?
As of January 2026, Sam is in full prep mode. The split stays mostly the same, but the way he does it shifts. He adds steady-state cardio (usually 30-35 minutes on the bike) after every session to get lean without losing muscle. His diet also gets way stricter. Gone are the days of cereal and chocolate milk; he’s now focusing on 50g of protein per meal, using lean turkey, ground beef, and white rice to hit his numbers.
He’s currently sitting around 240 to 250 pounds, looking to bring a level of conditioning that silences the critics who say he’s "just a mass monster."
Actionable Takeaways for Your Own Training
If you want to incorporate some of the Sulek "magic" into your routine without breaking yourself, try these specific steps:
- Prioritize Incline Pressing: Stop obsessing over the flat bench. Focus on the incline to build a more aesthetic, "filled-out" chest.
- Add Partial Reps: On your last set of an isolation exercise (like lateral raises or leg extensions), don't stop when you can't do a full rep. Do "partials" from the bottom until the muscle literally stops moving.
- Frequency vs. Intensity: If you want to train like Sam, you might need to lower your total sets per workout so you can recover. He does about 8-12 sets per muscle group—but every single one of those sets is a battle.
- Listen to Your Body: Sam is "instinctive." If a machine feels "off" or his joints hurt, he switches exercises on the fly. Don't be a slave to the spreadsheet if your body is screaming at you to stop.
Sam Sulek's split isn't just a list of exercises; it's a philosophy of hard work over "optimal" spreadsheets. Whether he wins the Arnold or not, he’s already proven that sometimes, just "sending it" in the gym is the best way to grow.
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To see how this intensity actually feels, try replacing your next "moderate" chest day with Sam’s incline-heavy, high-failure approach and see if the pump doesn't feel completely different.