Written by Sam Coleman | Co-founder
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
One of the most crucial parts of a lifter's training involves their workout split, which is essential for tracking progress and focusing on goals such as building muscle, strength, endurance, and athleticism.
But, deciding on the right split can be challenging. Talk to five different people about what workout split is the best and you are likely to get five different splits. Some splits, however, are tried and true, backed by years of results and proven studies, and it's those splits we recommend to clients time and time again.
The 5 best workout splits are:
- Full Body Split
- Upper Lower Split
- Push Pull Leg Split
- Push Pull Split
- Bro/Classic Bodybuilding Split
Now that you know what the best splits are, let's get into everything else you need to know, including how to determine which of these 5 splits is best for you, your ideal training frequency, and the best workouts to follow for each.
Table of Contents:
- How To Choose The Right Workout Split For You
- 5 Best Workout Splits (Workout Plans Included)
- Workout Split FAQs
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORKOUT SPLIT
A workout split is ideal for training because it helps you divide and conquer your body in a way where you exhaust specific muscles and then let them recover while you train other muscle groups.
This enables you to maximize the intensity, training volume, training frequency, and recovery time of all your muscles, as you follow your schedule for an extended period, anywhere from 4 - 12 weeks.
In the most basic sense, a workout split will be created based on:
- How many days a week you will train (i.e. 3, 4 or 5 days per week)
- Targeted muscles for each workout session (i.e. chest, shoulders and triceps for one of the workout days)
- (Usually) specific exercises that you will do for each of those workouts
There are several things you need to consider when deciding on a workout split. The 5 factors that will help you choose the right workout split are:
- Training Experience
- Goals
- Availability
- Rest & Recovery Needs
- Weaknesses
Keep these factors in mind as you look through the different split options and plans. We're going to briefly discuss each factor, but if you're ready to get right to the workout splits, keep scrolling.
1. Training Experience
The right training split for a beginner will look a lot different than one for a more advanced lifter. While the overall strategy and goal can be similar, the workout splits training frequency, volume and intensity will differ based on your training experience and fitness level.
2. Goals
People’s fitness goals vary, and the workout split you choose should be influenced by whatever your end goal is. A workout split for someone who wants to strictly build muscle will look a lot different than someone who wants to lose fat.
3. Availability
Not everyone has a schedule that allows them to workout whenever the want. You need to determine how many days of the week you can actually commit to working out as that will be a big factor in what workout split you should choose.
4. Rest & Recovery Needs
Don’t underestimate rest and recovery! It’s just as important as the workouts. Choose a split that you feel will give you the recovery time that your age, fitness level, and lifestyle needs, and if you have plenty of energy on a rest day, then do another activity like a sport, hiking, cycling, or whatever you like.
5. Weaknesses
If you have certain weaknesses that you want to emphasize then choose a workout split or structure one in a way that allows you to improve upon those weaknesses to the fullest potential. For example, if you feel your legs are way behind, then make sure you are doing legs on days that you will definitely be fresh and full of energy or choose a split that allows you to hit legs twice or just legs during one workout session.
All in all, your workout split should be dictated by your goals, training experience, lifestyle, age, availability, and weaknesses, which is why there is no one size fits all in the world of fitness.
Want an easy to follow workout split that guarantees results? Check out our SFS Strength Program developed by Garett Reid (NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S).
Prepare to maximize your strength with our exclusive 13-week strength training program. 3, 4, and 5 day per week programming options.
THE 5 BEST WORKOUT SPLITS
There are countless ways that you can organize a workout split. However, to keep things simple, we are going to cover the most popular, tried and true workout splits.
The 5 best workout splits are:
- Full Body Split
- Upper Lower Split
- Push Pull Leg Split
- Push Pull Split
- Bro/Classic Bodybuilding Split
Beginners should start with the first option, but other lifters can choose from any of the five. Just consider the above factors we discussed and the advantages and disadvantages of the workout splits below and all will be stellar.
Note: Depending on your level, the exercises, intensity, and volume can be adjusted, but the overall protocol will be the same.
1. FULL BODY WORKOUT SPLIT
A full body split involves workouts that target both your upper and lower body each training session, or in other words, full body workouts! This plan is great for many types of lifters and is one of our favorite workout splits for women.
However, you aren’t going to be targeting every single muscle in your body each session. Rather, with a total body workout split, you will be performing compound movements that work multiple muscle groups at the same time and allow you to hit your major muscle groups each session.
For example, one full body workout may entail squats, bench press, overhead press, and pull ups, while another has deadlifts, dips, farmer’s walks, and hanging leg raises.
This is a simplified example, but as you can see, with total body workouts you aren’t necessarily specifically targeting every single muscle group each workout, but you are working your full body. Ove the week, you should do at least one or two exercises that does specifically target a muscle group. i.e. you should have squats in one of your workouts to target your quads, bench press for your chest, overhead press for your shoulders, and so on.
Full Body Schedule Options: 2, 3, or 4 days Per Week
Three things to consider with Full Body Splits:
- Full body workout splits are best done on a 2, 3, or 4 day schedule.
- Always have a rest day in between sessions. Full body workouts are taxing on the overall nervous system, even for beginners who aren’t lifting heavy.
- You must hit all major muscle groups each week. Split up your workouts so that you are doing all the main compound lifts throughout the week.
Let's look at the different schedules you can follow with full-body splits.
2 Day Schedule:
Day 1: Full Body Workout
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Full Body Workout
Day 5-7: Rest
3 Day Schedule:
Day 1: Full Body Workout
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Full Body Workout
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Full Body Workout
Day 6 & 7: Rest
4 Day Schedule:
Day 1: Full Body Workout
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Full Body Workout
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Full Body Workout
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Full Body Workout
Day 8: Rest
Repeat
For a 2 and 3 day split, each workout will be different. So, that’ll be 2 or 3 different workouts. For a 4 day split, you can either have 2 different workouts that you do twice a week or 4 different workouts. Then you repeat those same 2, 3 or 4 workouts each week for the duration of your training cycle.
While you should keep your workouts consistent each week, it is OK to switch up the order of the exercises on any given day. So, you’ll be doing the same exercises, but in a different order. You will have the most energy on the first exercise, so this will help keep everything even.
WHO SHOULD DO FULL BODY SPLITS?
Full body splits are best for:
- Beginners
- Anyone who just wants to simply keep fit
- People with busy schedules
- Those who want to lose fat
A full body split is not a good option for more advanced, serious lifters looking to build muscle.
So, if you are a beginner or you just want to workout to keep healthy, lean, and fit without having your life completely revolve around fitness, a full body split is your best choice. Most people should follow a full body split, at least for a portion of the year.
2 Day Full Body Split:
With a 2 day full body split, your workouts will need to be a little longer as you need to fit all the most important exercises that you need to do each week into 2 workouts. With a 2 day split, your exercise variety and total volume will be less than a 3 or 4 day full body split.
Workout 1:
- Squats: 4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Bench Press: 4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Seated DB Shoulder Press: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Rows: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Hanging Leg Raises: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
Workout 2:
- Deadlifts: 4 sets x 6-10 reps
- Overhead Press: 4 sets x 8-12 reps
- Pull Ups: 3 sets x max reps
- DB incline Press: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Planks: 3 sets x 30-60 second holds
3 Day Full Body Split:
A 3 day full body split will allow you to spread out the main compound lifts a little more and add a little more movement variety to your workouts.
Workout 1:
- Squats: 4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Overhead Press: 4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Rows: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Dips: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
Workout 2:
- Bench Press: 4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Pull Ups: 3 sets x max reps
- Split Squats: 3 sets x 8-12 reps each side
- Planks: 3 sets x 30-60 second holds
Workout 3:
- Deadlifts: 4 sets x 6-10 reps
- Seated DB Overhead Press: 4 sets x 10-15 reps
- Push Ups: 3 sets x 15-20+ reps
- Hanging Leg Raises: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
4 Day Full Body Split:
The 4 day split allows you to get even more volume and variety into your training, but it will require a higher level of recovery (you’ll need to sleep well and have good nutrition). You can also keep your workouts a little shorter with a 4 day split.
Workout 1:
- Standing Overhead Press: 4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Hip Thrusts: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Pull Ups: 4 sets x Max reps
- Dips: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
Workout 2:
- Squats: 4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Incline DB Bench Press: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Seated Rows: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Leg Raises: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
Workout 3:
- Bench Press: 4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Bent Over Barbell Row: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Split Squats: 3 sets x 8-12 reps each side
- Bicep Curl x Tricep Extension: 2 sets x 10-20 reps each
Workout 4:
- Deadlifts: 4 sets x 6-10 reps
- Seated DB Overhead Press: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Chest Fly or DB Pull Overs: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Planks: 3 sets x 30-60 second holds
PROS OF A FULL BODY SPLIT:
There are tons of pros to following a full body split, which is why we recommend it to so many trainees! The benefits of a full body split include:
- Supports Muscle Hypertrophy: Full body splits emphasize a high frequency of muscle stimulation (you will be hitting each muscle group multiple times per week), which is great for hypertrophy and strength, especially for beginners.
- Great For Fat Loss: This split is also great for fat loss as you will be doing mostly compound exercises, which burn the most calories and boost metabolism. Not to mention, keeps testosterone levels higher.
- Reduces Muscle Soreness: Another great thing about full body splits are that after a week or so, you really won’t get sore because the frequency is high and the overall volume per muscle group is low. As such, you should have no trouble recovering fully between workouts.
- Improves Athleticism: Full body splits typically involve big compound movements which train your body to work as a single unit. This is great for improving athleticism. Also, continuously practicing these movements helps you build these functional movement skills quicker.
- Great For Busy Schedules: There’s also less time commitment, which is great for people with busy schedules. A full body workout split will usually involve just a few big exercises per workout and there will always be a rest day in-between workout sessions. There is really no “fluff” when it comes to full body splits. You could get all you need from working out with three or four 30-45 minute workouts per week.
- Allows For Missed Workouts (Occasionally): Finally, if you were to miss a workout it’s not going to throw off your routine like it would with a body part split because regardless you are still training your entire body that week.
CONS OF A FULL BODY SPLIT:
Let's look at the downsides of this split.
- Limited Exercises & Fewer Customization Options: The biggest downfall of the full body split is the limited exercise variety and low overall volume per muscle group. This can lead you to neglect certain functional movement patterns or smaller muscles (i.e. middle delts, biceps, triceps). Moreover, there is less wiggle room for customization of reps schemes, sets, and so on. This is the downside of minimizing your workout schedule. However, it is important to note that beginners won’t need to worry about the smaller muscle groups as big compound lifts will provide enough stimulation for growth, anyway.
- Advanced Lifters May Struggle With Recovery & Building Muscle: Regarding more advanced lifters, your intensity will likely be too high to do multiple big compound lifts each workout. For example, if you are squatting heavy then it’s going to be hard to deadlift heavy or bench press heavy that same workout. And as an advanced trainee, you will need to have high intensity for each of those exercises if you want to build muscle and strength. Overall, this can make full body workouts difficult to recover from, challenging for supporting muscle protein synthesis, and/or not effective for building muscle and strength.
For more information on full body routines, check out our Full Guide to Full-Body Workout Plans.
2. UPPER LOWER WORKOUT SPLIT
An upper lower split involves splitting up your workouts by upper body days and lower body days. On upper body days, you will hit all of your major upper body muscles, and on lower body days you will hit all of your major lower body muscles.
These muscle groups include:
- Upper Body Muscles: Chest, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, Biceps
- Lower Body Muscles: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings, Calves
And with this in mind, the exercises your upper lower workout routine include should focus on the following:
- Upper Body Pushing Movements: These movements will train your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Exercises include the bench press, shoulder press, dips, and skull crushers
- Upper Body Pulling Movements: These movements will train your entire back, posterior deltoids (the shoulder muscle on the back), and biceps. These exercises include rows, chin-ups, and bicep curls.
- Lower Body Pushing Movements: These movements are primarily going be your quad-dominant movements and calf exercises. Exercises include Back Squats, Front Squats, Lunges, Leg Extensions.
- Lower Body Pulling Movement: These movements are going to target your glutes and hamstrings. Exercises include deadlift, Romanian Deadlift, Barbell Hip Thrust, Leg Curls.
As for your core, you can do one or two core exercises each workout or add them to either your lower body or upper body days. Even though your core is part of your upper body, most people choose to add core to their lower body days because the lower body has fewer muscle groups to hit.
Similar to a full body routine, your workouts will mainly focus on big compound movements as they will give you the biggest bang for your buck when needing to hit many muscles each workout. This is particularly true for the upper body. However, some accessory exercises can be thrown into the mix to ensure you are not neglecting smaller muscle groups like the triceps, biceps, and calves.
Upper Lower Schedules: 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 Days Per Week
The most important factors to consider with Upper-Lower Workout Splits include:
- An upper lower split can be done 2, 3, 4, or even 5 or 6 days per week.
- Upper-lower routines are very flexible.
- The most common upper lower workout split is 4 days.
- Upper and lower body workouts will be taxing if using the right intensity so those three days of rest are crucial.
4 Day Workout Schedule:
Here's a schedule for a lifter following a 4-day upper-lower split.
4 Day
Day 1: Upper Workout
Day 2: Lower Workout
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Upper Workout
Day 5: Lower Workout
Day 6-7: Rest
There are many ways to structure your upper body and lower body workouts in terms of what exercises you choose, how many sets and reps, protocols like supersets and circuits, and so on. It really depends on your goal.
Essential Compound Lifts To Include:
You should include several main lifts, including:
For upper body days:
- Upper Body Pushes: Bench Press and Standing Overhead Press
- Upper Body Pulls: Bent Over Rows, Pull Ups
For lower body days:
- Lower Body Pushes: Squats
- Lower Body Pulls: Deadlifts, Hip Thrusts
You can mix in some other great compound movements, such as:
Upper Body Assistance Compound Lifts:
- Incline DB Bench Press
- Dips
- Seated DB Press
- Upright Rows
- Trap Raises or Farmer’s Walks
- Variations of Rows
Lower Body Assistance Compound Lifts:
- Split Squat or Lunges
- Stiff-Leg Deadlifts or RDLs
- Leg Press
- Good Mornings
If you have time for isolation exercises, you can add them to the end of your workouts.
The hierarchy of your workouts should always be:
- Main Lift(s)
- Assistance Lifts
- Isolation Exercises
WHO SHOULD DO AN UPPER LOWER SPLIT?
Upper lower workout splits are best for:
- Intermediate Lifters: This split allows you to hit your muscle groups twice a week with just 4 workouts per week (super doable). Total volume per upper body muscle group may not be as much as a classic bodybuilder split, but you are hitting them twice a week, which is shown to be more effective for building muscle. With that, you should see great results with an upper lower split.
- Advanced Bodybuilders: Particularly those who are trying to get shredded (cutting phases) and advanced powerlifters who are doing a 5/3/1 workout plan for strength. The upper lower split works very well for strength training as you can just focus on big lifts without concern of accessory exercises for aesthetics on upper body days.
As for beginners, if you have a good foundation of fitness, then the upper lower split is great. Let’s say you were brand new to working out and you started with a full body split for 3 months. The upper lower split would be a great split to try next.
4 DAY UPPER LOWER SPLIT ROUTINE
The following 4 day upper lower split is great because it spreads out your main movements over four training days, enabling you to focus on a couple of main lifts and then some accessory movements. This strategy increases the volume of your workouts and ensures you aren’t neglecting any muscles.
- Day 1: Upper Workout #1
- Day 2: Lower Workout #1
- Day 3: Rest
- Day 4: Upper Workout #2
- Day 5: Lower Workout #2
- Day 6-7: Rest
Workout #1 - Upper Body:
- Primary movements (Strength) - Upper Pushing
- Accessory movements (Hypertrophy) - Upper Pulling
Workout #2 - Lower Body
- Primary Movements (Strength) - Lower Pushing
- Accessory Movements (Hypertrophy) - Lower Pulling
Workout #3 - Upper Body
- Primary movements (Strength) - Upper Pulling
- Accessory movements (Hypertrophy) - Upper Pushing
Workout #4 - Lower Body
- Primary Movements (Strength) - Lower Pulling
- Accessory Movements (Hypertrophy) - Lower Pushing
Training Notes:
- Isolation/accessory movements are always done at the end of the session.
- Your strength training movements will consist of your big compound movements working in a rep range of 3-6 with 3-5 sets and using loads of about 85-90% of your 1RM.
- For your “smaller” compound movements and some isolation work, you will work in a rep range of 8-12+ with 2-3 sets using loads of about 70-80% of your 1RM.
Upper Lower Program Option 1
Here’s how the workouts should look.
Sample Upper Body Workout #1
- Bench Press: 3-5 sets x 3-6 reps
- Overhead Press: 3-5 sets x 5-8 reps
- Rear Delt Fly: 2-3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Trap Raises: 2-3 sets x 8-12+ reps
- Bicep Curls: 2-3 sets x 8-15 reps
Sample Lower Body Workout #1
- Squats: 5 sets x 3-6 reps
- Split Squats: 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Hip Thrust: 2-3 sets x 8-12+ reps
- Leg Curls: 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Calf Raises: 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Core Work: 2-3 sets
Sample Upper Body Workout #2
- Bent Over Barbell Row: 3-5 x 3-6 reps
- Weight Pull Ups: 3-5 sets x 5-10 reps
- Incline DB Bench Press: 2-3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Seated Arnold Press: 2-3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Lateral Raises: 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Tricep Kickbacks: 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
Sample Lower Body Workout #2
- Deadlifts: 5 sets x 3-6 reps
- Good Mornings: 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Leg Press: 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Stiff-Leg Deadlift: 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Leg Extensions: 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Core Work: 2-3 sets
Upper Lower Program Option 2
Here’s another simplified example of what an upper and lower body split could look like:
Upper Body Workout #1:
Bench Press, Bent Over Rows, Lateral Raises, Pull Ups, Bicep Curls
Lower Body Workout #1:
Back Squat, Hip Thrusts, Lunges, Standing Calf Raises, Planks
Upper Body Workout #2:
Overhead Press, Chin Ups, Dips, Shrugs, Tricep Extensions
Lower Body Workout #2:
Deadlifts, Split Squats, Good Mornings, Seated Calf Raises, Side Planks
PROS OF UPPER LOWER SPLIT:
There are many reasons why lifters gravitate to the upper-lower split. Here's what makes them so great.
- Versatile: The upper lower split is very popular because it is so versatile. It’s like the middle ground between full body workouts and body part splits.
- Ideal Mix Of Volume & Frequency: Where full body workouts maximize frequency and body part splits maximize volume, the upper lower split is like the perfect mix of the two. You’ll be able to do just enough volume each workout to exhaust your muscles and you get to hit your muscles groups twice a week.
- Great For Leg Growth: The upper lower split is particularly effective for building your legs because of this, as you have fewer muscle groups to focus on comparing to upper body days so you can really hammer your legs each lower body day. Note: A lower body workout in this split is essentially the same as a body part split’s “leg day” so you will be doing 2 leg days each week!
- Allows For Plenty Of Recovery: The upper lower split also allows for plenty of recovery time between sessions too, even with the higher frequency. For example, you hit your upper body on day 1 and you won’t have to hit it again until day 4, so that’s 2 full days of rest, which should mean you are coming into each workout with energy charged to 100%.
- Easy To Manage: What’s more, upper lower splits are easy to manage. Again, most people do the 4 day upper lower split. It’s both manageable and effective enough to build muscle and strength, as it focuses on major compound moves.
- High Calorie Burn: Because these workouts primarily focus on high calorie burn, they're great for movement skill and keeping androgen levels high. You’ll also burn a lot of calories each workout due to performing mostly compound lifts. With that, it’s easier to keep fat off as you work to improve strength and size.
- Flexible: Overall, it’s flexible in terms of what you can do. As you are training opposing muscle groups (like chest and back) you can do a lot of supersets to keep workout times shorter and more metabolic.
If we had to sum it up, the upper lower split is great because it optimizes both volume and frequency as best as possible.
CONS OF UPPER LOWER SPLIT:
There's only one downside to an upper-lower split.
- Workout Length: Upper body workout days can be on the longer side. There’s your chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, and that’s not considering core. That can make for a long workout. Because of this, you may end up neglecting certain smaller muscles that are under-stimulated with your big compound lifts or important exercises just to save time.
Our upper-lower workout programs above address this issue pretty well, so if you follow what we put together, it shouldn't even be a problem.
For more great information on upper-lower routines, head to our Full Guide to Upper Lower Splits.
3. PUSH PULL LEGS WORKOUT SPLIT
The push pull leg split breaks your training days into:
- Push days: Push days refer to upper body pushing muscles, which are your chest, shoulders and triceps.
- Pull days: Pull days refer to upper body pulling muscles, which are your back muscles and biceps.
- Leg days: Leg days refer to all your leg muscles, which includes your glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves.
As your core is worked during compound lifts, you can throw in some accessory core exercises like planks, hanging leg raises, and wood choppers every other workout session or even one core exercise at the end of your workout each training session.
Push-Pull-Legs Schedule Options: 3 or 6 days Per Week
Schedule factors to consider with a PPL split include:
- 3 or 6 days per week is best.
- It can also be done following 4 or 5 day schedule by just picking up on the day you left off each week.
- A 3 day push pull leg split should have one day rest in between workout days. i.e. M, W, F or Tu, Th, Sa.
- A 6 day push pull leg split should have 3 days on, one day off and is best for advanced trainees.
- With 4 and 5 day PPLs, you are essentially adding rest days where needed (some people prefer to take the weekends off - i.e. Push, Pull, Legs, Push, Pull, Rest, Rest, Legs, Push, etc.).
WHO SHOULD DO A PPL SPLIT?
Here's who a PPL split is best for:
- Beginners: A 3 day PPL is actually a better option for a beginner than a 4 day upper lower split, although both can be good once a solid foundation of exercising has been made.
- All Training Levels: Besides that, a PPL split is great for all levels as it is customizable for different training frequencies and intensities. A beginner can go for a 3 day PPL, an intermediate lifter can go for a 4 or 5 day PPL and an advanced lifter can go for a 5 or 6 day PPL. At 5 and 6 days, you get the benefit of both volume and frequency, which means you can pack on muscle and build strength efficiently, so long as recovery is on point.
- Lifters With Busy Schedules: All in all, anyone with a busy schedule who can only make time for 3 days of working out per week and that wants to build both muscle and strength will do well with a PPL split as it allows for the highest volume for each muscle group in just 3 days.
SAMPLE PPL WORKOUT SPLIT ROUTINES
The 3 and 6 day PPLs are the most popular, so we will give you sample routines for these two. Keep in mind: A 4 and 5 day PPL can be just like the 6 day PPL, just with more rest days, or a 3 day PPL with less rest days.
Before we get into the routines, we need to quickly go over the six movement patterns that must be included in your PPL workouts.
- Vertical Pushing Exercises (i.e. overhead press)
- Horizontal Pushing Exercises (i.e. bench press, push ups)
- Vertical Pulling Exercises (i.e. pull ups, chin ups)
- Horizontal Pulling Exercises (i.e. dumbbell rows, bent over rows)
- Hip Hinge Exercises (i.e. deadlifts, hip thrusts)
- Squat Exercises (i.e. back squat, front squat, split squat)
3 Day PPL Workout Split Routine:
For a 3 day PPL, you will have a rest day between push and pull, and pull and legs, and two rest days after legs. You can choose any day of the week to start, but assuming you are starting on a Monday, it’ll look like this:
Monday: Push
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Pull
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Legs
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest
Sample Push Workout:
- Bench Press: 3 sets x 6-10 reps
- Standing Overhead Press: 3 sets x 6-10 reps
- Parallel Dips: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Dumbbell Fly: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Lateral DB Raises: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Tricep Extensions: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
- Core work: 2-3 sets
Programming Notes:
- Switch exercise 1 and 2 with each other each week. So, week 2 will be overhead press first, then bench press second.
- You can alter the exercises for 3-7 if you like as these are accessory lifts. For example, week 2, you can opt for incline bench rather than parallel dips, skull crushers rather than tricep cable extensions, etc. Overall, aim to do 2-3 chest focused and 2-3 shoulder focused exercises.
- Feel free to mix up your rep scheme for the accessory lifts and be sure to employ progressive overload for your main lifts.
Sample Pull Workout:
- Pull Ups or Chin Ups: 3 sets x max reps (full range of motion)
- Bent Over Rows: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- T-Bar Rows: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Rear Delt Flys: 3 sets x 12-20 reps
- Shrugs: 3 sets x 12-20 reps
- Bicep Curls: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
- Core work: 2-3 sets
Programming Notes:
- Switch exercise 1 and 2 with each other each week. So, week 2 will be bent over rows first, then pull ups second.
- You can alter the exercises for 3-7 if you like as these are accessory lifts and isolation exercises. For example, week 2, you can opt for seated close grip rows rather than T-bar rows, hammer curls rather than for regular curls, etc. Overall, make sure you focus one big lift on horizontal pulling and one big lift on vertical pulling each week, then the rest of the pulling exercises you can mix it up to ensure you are hitting your back and biceps from all angles.
- Feel free to mix up your rep scheme for the accessory lifts and be sure to employ progressive overload for your main lifts.
Sample Leg Workout:
- Back Squats: 3 sets x 5-10 reps
- Deadlifts: 3 sets x 5-10 reps
- Split Squats: 3 sets x 8-12 reps each side
- Hip Thrusts: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Calf raises: 3 sets x 12-20 reps
- Core work: 2-3 sets
Programming Notes:
- Switch exercise 1 and 2 with each other each week. So, week 2 will be deadlifts first, then squats second.
- You can alter the exercises for 3-5 if you like as these are assistance lifts. Other good exercises are good mornings, stiff-legged deadlifts, lunges, leg press, Bulgarian split squat.
- Feel free to mix up your rep scheme for the accessory lifts and be sure to employ progressive overload for your main lifts.
6 Day PPL Split Routine Option 1:
A 6 day PPL split will look like this:
Day 1: Push
Day 2: Pull
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Push
Day 6: Pull
Day 7: Legs
Day 8: Rest day
Repeat
Since you have two push, pull and leg days each week, the workouts will look different.
You can do one hypertrophy focused day and one strength focused day, i.e.
Day 1: Push Strength
Day 2: Pull Strength
Day 3: Legs Strength
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Push Hypertrophy
Day 6: Pull Hypertrophy
Day 7: Legs Hypertrophy
Day 8: Rest day
Repeat
For strength days: Focus on just 2-3 big lifts, for 4-5 sets, and work in a low rep range (3-8 reps) with 70-85% of your 1RM.
For hypertrophy days: Focus on various assistance/accessory lifts like split squats, leg press, stiff-legged deadlifts, for 2-3 sets, and work in a higher rep range (10-20 reps) with about 60% of your 1RM.
6 Day PPL Split Routine Option 2:
The more common way is to have A & B workouts, which will be designed for both strength and hypertrophy (in the same workout) based on the rep scheme (use an appropriate load)
For example:
Day 1: Push A
Day 2: Pull A
Day 3: Legs A
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Push B
Day 6: Pull B
Day 7: Legs B
Day 8: Rest day
Repeat
Essentially Push A’s main focus is a Horizontal Pushing Exercise and Push B’s main focus is a Vertical Pushing Exercise, Pull A’s main focus is a Horizontal Pulling Exercise and Pull B’s main focus is a Vertical Pulling Exercise, and Leg A’s main focus is a Squat and Leg B’s main focus is a Hip Hinge Exercise.
So, it’ll look something like this...
Push A:
- Bench Press: 4 sets x 6-10 reps
- Seated DB Press: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Dips: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Incline Fly: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Lateral Raise: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Skull Crushers: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
Pull A:
- Bent Over Barbell Row: 4 sets x 6-10 reps
- Lat Pull Down: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Seated Close Grip Row: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Shrugs: 3 sets x 12-20 reps
- Rear Delt Fly: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
- Bicep Curls: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Leg A:
- Back Squat: 4 sets x 6-10 reps
- Stiff-legged Deadlift: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Split Squat: 3 sets x 8-12 reps each side
- Leg Curl: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Core Work: 3 sets
Push B:
- Standing Overhead Barbell Press: 4 sets x 6-10 reps
- DB Incline Bench: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Upright Rows: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- DB Front Raises : 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Push Ups: 3 sets x 20+ reps
- Tricep Pressdown: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
Pull B:
- Pull Ups: 4 sets x max reps (or weighted pull ups for 6-10 reps)
- Neutral Grip Pull Ups: 3 sets x max reps
- Seated Wide Grip Rows: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Seated Close Grip Rows: 3 sets x 12-20 reps
- Face Pulls: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
- Hammer Curls: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Leg B:
- Deadlifts: 4 sets x 5-8 reps
- Hip Thrusts: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Leg Press or Lunges: 3 sets x 10-20 reps each side
- Leg Extensions: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Seated Calf Raises: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Core Work: 3 sets
Of course, this is all flexible, but the point is, A and B day will have a different big lift to focus on for strength and much of the rest of the workout is a mix of strength and hypertrophy. The good thing about doing big compound lifts for low reps and heavy weight is that while you will be focusing on strength, you will also build muscle as compound lifts can build pure size in any rep range.
PROS OF A PPL SPLIT:
The benefits of a PPL split include:
- Great For Building Muscle & Strength: The PPL allows you to train every muscle group in just three days and with a good amount of training volume. This makes it great for building muscle and strength.
- 3-Day-Per-Week Commitment: You only have to commit to three days of training each week and It’s almost just as focused as a bro split, but far more efficient.
- Perfect Training Balance: If far left side of the spectrum is full body, and the far right side is the bro split, then the PPL is middle right. If you are advanced and have great recovery, you can do 5 or 6-day PPLs that allow you to hit each muscle group twice a week. This means you get even more volume than an upper lower and the same high frequency. You get plenty of rest days between sessions, even with 5 and 6 day PPLs. As you are hitting opposing muscle groups, there won’t be any conflict with sore muscles.
Overall, the PPL is easy to plan. You should have no trouble hitting all your muscle groups effectively and there should be no reason for any neglected muscles or exercises.
CONS OF A PPL SPLIT:
Downsides to a 3-day PPL include:
- Only Hitting Muscles Once Weekly: If you are doing a 3 day PPL, which is most common, then you will only be hitting each muscle group once a week. However, if you decide on a 3 day PPL, you can structure it in various ways, such as M, Tu, W, then 2 days off, and repeat. This will essentially be a 5 day PPL, which will allow you to increase the frequency. You don’t HAVE to do rest days in-between each workout if your recovery is good.
- Can Be Unorganized: It may get a little confusing if you do a 4 or 5 day PPL as you will need to remember where you left off each week. This isn't a huge downside, but it may bother some trainees.
- Workouts Can Be Lengthy: If you are doing a 3 day PPL and aesthetics are one of your top goals, your workouts may be a little long as you will need to make time for isolation exercises to hit the muscles that aren’t being sufficiently exhausted during bigger lifts.
- Can Be Taxing: If you are doing just a 3 day split, you may end up having to do squats and deadlifts on the same day, or bench press and overhead press, which can be difficult for some people as these are both taxing lifts. Because of this, some people opt for one or the other and miss out on the benefits of certain big lifts. The fix is to just switch which one comes first each week.
For those looking to follow a 6-day PPL, the biggest downsides are that it's taxing and requires a very good ability to recover.
For more workouts and training info on the push-pull-legs program, check out our Full Guide to the PPL Split.
4. PUSH PULL WORKOUT SPLIT
The Push Pull Split breaks your workouts into Push Days and Pull Days.
Unlike a push pull leg split, the push days and pull days will include lower body pushing exercises and lower body pulling exercises, respectively.
Pushing Exercises:
- Horizontal Pushes (i.e. Push Ups, Bench Press)
- Vertical Pushes (i.e. Overhead Press)
- Lower Body Pushes (i.e. all Squat variations, calf raises)
- Target the chest, shoulders, triceps, quads/glutes/calves
Pulling Exercises:
- Horizontal Pulls (i.e. Rows)
- Vertical Pulls (i.e. Pull Ups, Pulldowns)
- Lower Body Pulls (i.e. Deadlifts and all hip hinge exercises)
- Target the back, biceps, hamstrings/glutes
Like the other splits, core work is to be thrown in at your discretion as big compound lifts do a good job of working your core through most planes of motion (except the transverse plane).
Push Pull Schedule Options: 2, 4, or 6 Days Per Week
The Push Pull split can be done 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 days per week, but 2, 4 and 6 days will keep things even and organized each week as your full body will be trained every 2 workouts.
Here are a few factors to consider:
- The most common frequency for a Push Pull split is 4 days, just like it is for an Upper Lower split. It just works best for both maximizing the frequency of hitting your muscles and recovery.
- 2 days can work for beginners, and 6 days for those who are advanced.
- As for 3 and 5 days, you’d just have to start each new week where you left off on the previous week. For example, week 1 would be push pull push then week 2 is pull push pull.
Since 4 days is the best for a Push Pull, we will just discuss this split based on that.
WHO SHOULD DO A PUSH PULL SPLIT?
Here's who a push-pull split is best for:
- Trainees Who Want To Get Lean & Fit: The push pull split is good for someone who wants to improve their movement skills and get lean and fit, rather than someone who wants to pack on muscle and strength. So, it can be good for intermediate to advanced lifters, but not if they are trying to bulk. If trying to use this split to build muscle when you are already muscular, it will likely be too difficult to recover from taxing workouts that involve many big lifts.
- Beginners: It is also good for beginners, as it is similar to a full body split. Beginners won’t be lifting with so much intensity so recovery should be no problem. This is a good split for beginners who want to train 4 times a week and build a solid foundation of movement skill and strength.
On the whole, it is a great split for improving overall fitness for all levels.
4 Day Push Pull Workout Split Routine:
A 4 day Push Pull Split can be set up in two ways.
Option 1 Set Up:
Day 1: Push
Day 2: Pull
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Push
Day 5: Pull
Day 6-7: Rest
Option 2 Set Up (Best For Beginners):
Day 1: Push
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Pull
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Push
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Pull
Day 8: Rest
Repeat
Rather than doing 2 of the same exact push and pull days each week, you should do a Push A and Push B and Pull A and Pull B workout.
i.e.
Day 1: Push A
Day 2: Pull A
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Push B
Day 5: Pull B
Day 6-7: Rest
There are various ways to go about differing your A & B workouts. It’ll depend on your goals.
If you want to build both strength and muscle, your A workouts can be strength focused and your B workouts can be hypertrophy focused OR your A workouts can emphasize lower body movements and B workouts can emphasize upper body movements.
If you are looking to simply build movement skill and a solid foundation, you can just change up the exercises in your workouts. For example, if you do squats, bench press, and seated Arnold presses on Push A, then you can do standing overhead presses, push ups, and split squats on Push B.
Push Pull Program Option 1:
This option separates strength and hypertrophy days.
Sample Push A Workout (Strength):
- Squats: 5 sets x 5 reps
- Bench Press: 5 sets x 5 reps
- Standing Overhead Press: 5 sets x 5-10 reps
Training Note: Change the order of the exercises each week.
Sample Pull A Workout (Strength):
- Deadlifts: 5 sets x 5 reps
- Bent Over Rows: 5 sets x 5 reps
- Pull Ups or Chin Ups: 5 sets x max reps
Training Note: Change the order of the exercises each week.
Sample Push B Workout (Hypertrophy):
- Seated DB Overhead Press: 2-3 sets x 8-16 reps
- Incline DB Bench Press: 2-3 sets x 8-16 reps
- Leg Press: 2-3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Split Squats: 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps each side
- DB lateral Raises x Incline Fly (superset): 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Close Grip Push Ups x Tricep Overhead Extensions (superset): 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
Training Note: You can do different variations each week.
Sample Pull B Workout (Hypertrophy:
- Seated Rows: 2-3 sets x 8-16 reps
- Lat Pull Downs: 2-3 sets x 8-16 reps
- Stiff-Leg Deadlifts: 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Hip Thrusts: 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Rear Delt Fly x Shrugs (superset): 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Bicep Curl x Hammer Curl (superset): 2-3 sets x 10-20 reps
Training Note: You can do different variations each week.
Core work: Throw in 2-3 sets of core each workout or for two of the workouts each week.
Push Pull Split Option 2:
Another way to approach this split looks like this. Note: Below the workout outline, we provide the best exercises for "major" and "minor" push and pull movements.
Sample Push A:
- Major Upper Body Push Exercise: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- Major Lower Body Push Exercise: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- Minor Lower Body Push Exercise: 3 sets x 8-16 reps
- Minor Upper Body Push Exercise: 3 sets x 8-16 reps
Sample Pull A:
- Major Lower Body Pull Exercise: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- Major Upper Body Pull Exercise: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- Minor Upper Body Pull Exercise: 3 sets x 8-16 reps
- Minor Lower Body Pull Exercise: 3 sets x 8-16 reps
Sample Push B:
- Major Lower Body Push Exercise: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- Major Upper Body Push Exercise: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- Minor Upper Body Push Exercise: 3 sets x 8-16 reps
- Minor Lower Body Push Exercise: 3 sets x 8-16 reps
Sample Pull A:
- Major Upper Body Pull Exercise: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- Major Lower Body Pull Exercise: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- Minor Lower Body Pull Exercise: 3 sets x 8-16 reps
- Minor Upper Body Pull Exercise: 3 sets x 8-16 reps
Major vs Minor Lifts:
- Major Upper Body Push: Barbell Bench Press, Barbell Overhead Press
- Minor Upper Body Push: Lateral Raises, Incline DB Bench, Arnold Press, Upright Rows, Tricep Extensions
- Major Lower Body Push: Back Squats, Front Squats
- Minor Lower Body Push: Step Ups, Lunges, Split Squats, Leg Press, Leg Extensions
- Major Upper Body Pull: Bent Over Barbell Rows, Pull Ups, Rack Pulls
- Minor Upper Body Pull: Row Variations, Lat Pull Downs, Rear Delt Fly, Shrugs, Curls
- Major Lower Body Pulls: Deadlifts, Hip Thrusts
- Minor Lower Body Pulls: Stiff-leg Deadlifts, Single Leg Deadlifts, Good Mornings, Leg Curls
What about 2 day Push Pull Splits?
If you are doing a 2 day Push Pull Split, then you just choose the most important compound exercises and fit them into your workouts (i.e. squats, horizontal presses, vertical presses, deadlifts/hip hinge, and horizontal pulls and vertical pulls).
PROS OF A PUSH PULL SPLIT:
Essentially, the push pull split gives you both the same benefits of the upper lower split and the full body split.
- Ideal Mix Of Frequency & Volume: This enables you to hit your muscle groups twice a week with a fair amount of volume.
- Great For Calorie Burn & Fat Loss: Because you are training both your upper and lower body each workout, this split is great for boosting test levels and burning calories.
The push pull split is great for movement skill acquisition and building lean muscle, getting shredded, and improving strength.
CONS OF A PUSH PULL SPLIT:
There are a few downsides to the push-pull split.
- Workouts Can Be Lengthy: Like the upper and lower split, the workout sessions can be long if you want to get a higher total weekly volume per muscle group and if you want to focus on smaller muscle groups that were not sufficiently stimulated during the big compound movements.
- Can Be Taxing: This is especially true for more advanced individuals who train with high intensity as Push Days and Pull Days will involve many big lifts (i.e. a push day can include both bench press, overhead press and squats)
If you decide this is the split for you, check out our Full Guide to Push-Pull Workout Splits for more great information and plans to follow.
5. BODY PART WORKOUT SPLIT (aka BRO SPLIT)
The body part split, otherwise known as the Bro Split, is a classic bodybuilding workout split, and arguably, the most popular training split there is.
The Bro Split divides your workouts into muscle groups or body parts, meaning you train one major muscle group or body part per workout. Examples of major muscle groups that would have their own training include:
However, there are slight variances to how the muscle groups can be separated based on how many days per week you will train, which is usually 4, 5, or 6 days per week.
Interestingly, these days a lot of people are shifting away from the body part split as studies are showing that hitting muscle groups twice a week leads to more growth potential1.
Be that as it may, the bro split is still the most common split among gym rats, bodybuilders, and those who aspire to be bodybuilders.
Body Part Schedule Options: 4, 5, or 6 Days Per Week
The body part split can easily be worked into 4, 5 or 6 days.
Here’s how it will look for each.
4 Day Body Part Split:
Day 1: Chest
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Shoulders & Arms
Day 5: Legs
Day 6-7: Rest
5 Day Body Part Split:
Day 1: Legs
Day 2: Chest
Day 3: Back
Day 4: Shoulders
Day 5: Arms & Abs
Day 6-7: Rest
The above is the most common. It gives you the weekends off!
6 Day Body Part Split:
Day 1: Chest
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Core
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Biceps & Triceps
Day 6: Shoulders
Day 7: Legs
Day 8: Rest
Repeat
The order of which day you hit each body part can be changed, but it is important to separate certain days as some muscle groups are synergists with others.
For example, the shoulders are often worked during chest exercises, so you’d want shoulder and chest days to be separated by a few days to avoid soreness as that will affect your workouts.
Mainly, you just don’t want chest and shoulders together and legs and back together (as your low back will be worked during many leg exercises). Muscles like your traps, biceps, and triceps recovery quickly and/or will not likely get sore from compound movements.
WHO SHOULD DO A BODY PART SPLIT?
Wondering if the bro split is right for you? Here's who will benefit most from the body part split.
- Trainees Who Want To Hit The Gym 5 Times Per Week: The body part split is best for people who want to be in the gym 5 days a week without basically killing themselves each workout. Although this is not really a good reason to choose this split, as other 3 or 4 day splits can be just as effective.
- Bodybuilders: Really, this split is best for people with big muscles who want to be or are bodybuilders. It’s also good for intermediate and advanced lifters who want to hone in on certain muscle groups. For example, if someone who’s been training for years needs more work on their shoulders, the body part split will ensure their shoulders get the right amount of attention. It can be good to do the body part split for one or two training cycles per year.
- Serious Lifters Who Are Bulking: Overall, it’s a good split for serious lifters who want to bulk. However, the vast majority of people should opt for a split with higher frequency of training each muscle group as they will get better results that way.
Nevertheless, if you want to try a body part split, go for it! Don’t let all the bro split hate deter you from doing it. We don’t recommend doing it all year round, but 2-3 months out of the year for even the average intermediate lifter is fine. You may end up seeing great results as you will be able to maximize volume and your muscles won’t be use to that coming from a higher frequency split (this is why we like to switch up splits every couple months).
5 Day Body Part Split Routine:
While you can do a 4 or 6 day body part split, we are going to show you an example of a 5 day body part split because it is the most popular option AND a 4 or 6 day split won’t look much different. This will give you the general idea of how you need to structure your workouts either way.
Day 1: Chest Day
Day 2: Back Day
Day 3: Arms & Abs Day
Day 4: Leg Day
Day 5: Shoulder Day
Day 6-7: Rest
Sample Chest Day Workout:
- Barbell Bench Press: 3-4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Incline DB Bench Press: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Cable Fly High to Low: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Cable Fly Low to High: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Dips: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
Notes: 60-90 seconds rest between sets & exercises.
Sample Back Day Workout:
- Deadlifts: 3-4 sets x 5-8 reps
- Pull Ups: 3 sets x max reps
- Bent Over Barbell Row: 3 sets x 6-12 reps
- Seated Close Grip Row: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- Kroc Row (aka Single Arm Row): 3 sets x 8-15 reps each side
- Rear Delt Fly: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
Notes: 60-90 seconds rest between sets & exercises.
Sample Arm & Abs Day Workout:
- Barbell Bicep Curl: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Alt. Hammer Curl: 2-3 sets x 10-12 reps each
- Concentration Curl: 2-3 sets x 8-12 reps each side
- Close Grip Bench: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Tricep Overhead Extension: 2-3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Tricep Kickback: 2-3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Hanging Leg Raises: 2 sets x 8-12 reps
- Plank: 2 sets x 30 sec holds
- Side Plank: 2 sets x 30 sec hold each side
- Woodchopper: 2 sets x 10 reps each way
Notes: This workout should use minimum rest time, around 30 seconds each set. To speed up this workout, you can superset bicep exercises with tricep exercises.
Sample Leg Day Workout:
- Back Squats: 3-4 sets x 5-10 reps
- Stiff-Leg Deadlifts: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Barbell Hip Thrusts: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Split Squats: 3 sets x 8-12 reps each side
- Leg Extensions: 2 sets x 10-20 reps
- Leg Curls: 2 sets x 10-20 reps
- Calf Raises: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
Note: 60-90 seconds rest between sets & exercises.
Sample Shoulder Day Workout:
- Standing Overhead Press: 3-4 sets x 6-12 reps
- Seated Arnold Press: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Lateral Raises: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Front Raises: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Upright Rows: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Shrugs: 3 sets x 12-20 reps
Note for all workout days: Exercises can change each week, but be sure to keep the main compound lifts.
PROS OF A BODY PART SPLIT:
Wondering if the Bro Split is right for you? Here are the benefits.
- Ideal Volume For Muscle Growth: The main advantage of the body part split is that it allows for maximum volume for each muscle group. With the body part split, you are guaranteed to hammer down on each muscle group to full exhaustion.
- Plenty Of Recovery: Another reason the body part split is good is because it gives you a full week of recovery before you have to hit that muscle group again. This is actually more important for people who already have big muscles because bigger muscles take longer to recovery. So, this kind of split is best for more advanced bodybuilders.
- Does Train Some Muscle Groups Twice Weekly: What’s more, you will actually be training certain muscle groups twice a week. If you think about it, your front delts will be worked on chest day too, so that’s twice for your shoulders, your biceps will also be worked on back day, so that’s twice for biceps, and your triceps will be worked on both shoulder and chest day, so that’s three times for triceps. The only issue is, your largest muscles groups (legs, chest, and back) only get worked once. So, depending on your physique, this may be good or bad for you.
- Builds Strength: And that’s not all, contrary to people thinking it’s a hypertrophy only split, the body part split is actually good for building strength too. This is because you only have to do one big compound lift each workout, which you will do as your first exercise. For this first exercise, you can go heavy and use low reps to build strength and size. Moreover, you can easily employ progressive overload like this as you won’t have to do this lift again for a week, at which point you will be fully recovered. So, each week, you should be able to get a little bit stronger.
- You Can Hit The Gym Frequently: Finally, a lot of people like going to the gym often, and the body part split allows you to hit the gym effectively for 5 or even 6 days a week. Compared to a 6 day PPL, a 6 day body part split is a lot easier both mentally and physically.
CONS OF A BODY PART SPLIT:
No split is perfect! Here are the downsides to following a Bro Split.
- Less Frequency: While the body part split maximizes volume, it does so at the expense of frequency for your legs, chest, back, and other muscles like your side delts. For the average person, maximizing frequency is more effective than maximizing volume. You can learn more about this in our article that discusses Training Each Muscle Group Twice a Week.
- You Miss Out On Potential Muscle Growth: Protein synthesis (which is a natural process for repairing muscle) levels off at about 48 hours. So by not hitting that muscle group again after protein synthesis levels off, you are missing out on growth potential.
- Bigger Time Commitment: With a body part split, you need a bigger commitment of time. If you miss one workout, then you didn’t train an entire muscle group for that week. Moreover, workouts can be long as they involve a fair amount of exercises (big compound lifts, accessory compound lifts and isolation exercises). Most people do around 6-8 exercises per workout, whereas a Push Pull or Upper Lower split likely involves 4-6 exercises. Plus, with a body part split, it’s not as convenient to implement protocols like circuits as you can’t hit opposing muscle groups.
To learn more about body part splits, check out our Full Guide to Bro Splits.
HOW MANY DAYS PER WEEK SHOULD YOU TRAIN?
Now that you know the pros and cons of each split, you need to decide how many days per week you will train, as that will help you decide on the right split.
Ideally, you want to train anywhere from 3-5 days per week. These are good guidelines to follow:
- Beginners: 3-4 days
- Intermediate: 4-5 days
- Advanced: 4-6 days
No one should train 7 days a week. That’s an overkill. If you must be active for 7 days, then do something else like a sport or go for a hike! There’s no need to lift weights 7 days a week. If you can do that without overtraining, then you aren’t training hard enough.
If you do want to exercise 7 days per week, make sure you check out our guide on How to Create a 7 Day Workout Plan That's Sustainable.
WHAT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WORKOUT SPLIT FOR YOU?
The best workout split for you will depend on your goals, your fitness level, your availability and whether or not you are working out with free weights.
To sum up everything above as concisely as possible:
- Full Body Split: Maximizes Training Frequency
- Bro/Classic Split: Maximizes Training Volume
- Upper Lower, PPL, Push Pull: Good Mix of Both Training Frequency & Volume
Consider Your Training Status:
Another great way to determine your perfect split is to let your training level guide you.
- For beginners: Frequency of hitting your muscles will lead to the best results.
- For advanced bodybuilders with large muscles: Volume is the most important.
- For everyone else: The best results will come from optimizing both frequency and volume.
There are plenty of other splits out there, such as the Upper Lower Push Pull Legs split, the PHAT workout split, the PHUL workout split, or any of these Best Strength Training Programs. But, unless you are trying to be a powerlifter, we recommend sticking to one of the 5 workout splits we’ve gone over.
Workout Split FAQs
Let's answer some frequently asked questions regarding finding the best workout split.
How Often Should You Change Your Workout Split?
If a workout split is working for you and you are seeing good results, you can stick with it. However, it’s good to switch up your training split every 2-3 months. If you are noticing that your results and workouts have plateaued, that’s a good time to switch splits.
What Is The Best Workout Split For Beginners?
The absolute best split for a true beginner is a 3 day full body split. This will give you enough training stimulus as well as recovery days.
Focus most of your time on big compound movements and as you progress through your plan, work to increase the frequency (add another day per week) and volume of your workouts (more sets and/or exercises). Also, increase the weight load or decrease rest time. These are methods of progressive overload. Progressive overload must be employed to see the results you want and to continue pushing forward toward your goals.
What is the best 2 day split?
If you are going to workout 2 days a week, you can choose a Full Body Split, Push Pull Split, or Upper Lower Split. The best bet is the full body split though because of the higher frequency per muscle group.
What is the best 3 day split?
If you are going to workout 3 days a week, the best option is the Push Pull Leg Split.
For beginners, we recommend a 3 Day Full Body Split.
For more great options, check out our Guide to 3 Day Workout Splits.
What is the best 4 day split?
If you want to workout 4 days a week, the best option is either the Push Pull or Upper Lower split for those who have general fitness goals like improving strength and muscle and keeping fit.
If you are a bigger person at an intermediate to advanced level and you are looking to build muscle, then a 4 day bro split is good.
Beginners should do a 4 day full body split, or an upper lower or push pull split.
What is the best 5 day split?
If you are intermediate to advanced and you want to build muscle and get stronger, then a 5 day body part split is good. It’s easier to manage than other 5 day splits. You can train hard each workout without overtraining.
If you are looking to get shredded, then do a 4 Day Upper Lower or Push Pull split with a fifth day of HIIT OR a 3 day PPL with two days of HIIT. OR a 5 day PPL where you pick up each week where you finished on the previous week.
Another good option is the Upper Lower Push Pull Split. You can read about this in our 5 day workout split guide (which also covers the 5 day bro split more in depth). We also really like this 5-Day Hypertrophy Workout Plan.
What is the best 6 day split?
We only recommend advanced trainees to workout 6 days per week. Remember, this is very taxing on the body. If you are worried about overtraining, then a 6 day body part split will be the easiest to handle or a 5 day body part split with a sixth day of cardio or HIIT works too.
If you are really a beast at recovery, then a 6 Day Upper Lower or Push Pull or PPL can be good. But you shouldn’t do this year round. Do this for a few months out of the year at most. It’ll be tough.
Take a look at our Guide to 6 Day Workout Splits for even more information on this program.
What is the best 7 day split?
There are none. We can’t recommend people to train 7 days a week. Sometimes, less is more.
Note: 7 days per week can be fine if your workouts are short and mostly bodyweight exercises.
Should I Train Full Body Or Split?
A full body split will be best for beginners or people with specific goals like maintenance or cutting.
Once you get to an intermediate or advanced level, a full body split will have diminishing returns, especially if you do it all year round.
Even for those who are intermediate and advance, a full body split can be good to do for one training cycle per year.
Other than that, most intermediate and advanced will do best with one of the splits that optimizes both volume and frequency, like the upper lower, push pull, or push pull leg splits.
For a more in-depth answer, read our article on Full Body vs Split Workouts.
Is The Bro Split Workout Good?
For bodybuilders, yes. Otherwise, it’s not the most efficient split, especially for beginners.
If you are already have a lot of muscle, then a bro split can be good as your muscles will need more time to recover and having a week between big lifts is good for continuing progressive overload at a point when you are already lifting fairly heavy.
What Is The Best Workout Split For Fat Loss?
The full body split is arguably the best for fat loss because it consists mainly of compound exercises, so you will burn a lot of calories. However, you can get the same results with a push pull or upper lower split as well, as they will also mainly involve big compound movements.
Note: You can lose fat with any split. Remember, fat loss is simply about consuming less calories than you burn. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn each day while resting.
What’s the Best Split For Building Muscle?
You can gain muscle with all of the splits as long as you are using the principle of progressive overload and you are dieting and sleeping correctly.
However, the best splits for building muscle would be the Push Pull Legs or Body Part split because they provide the most volume, which will be needed as your muscles get bigger.
Prepare to maximize your gains with our exclusive 12-week hypertrophy training program. Choose between a 4 or 5 day training split and gain 2-12 pounds of muscle over 90 days...
What's the Best Split for Strength?
The best splits for strength are typically the PPL, Upper Lower, and full body split. However, a lot of strength training programs are complex and unique so they can't just be categorized by one of the splits mentioned in this post. If you want to build strength, it's important that you follow a well-planned program that takes progressive overload and periodization into account.
Prepare to maximize your strength with our exclusive 13-week strength training program. 3, 4, and 5 day per week programming options.
What’s the Best Split For Athletes?
Splits that involve doing functional compound movements like squats and deadlifts more often will be best for athletes. Moreover, you want to do a split that isn’t too time consuming as you will need time for your sport specific workouts and training.
We recommend a 3 day PPL or 3 day full body split for athletes. The PPL will probably be best for intermediate to advance and the full body for beginners, but intermediate and advanced can also do the full body split.
How Long Should A Workout Last?
Your workouts should last no longer than 60 minutes. Ideally, you should be in and out in 30-45 minutes, especially if you are doing a 4-6 day split. If you are taking too long working out, then you need to improve your workout efficiency, as the 45 minute range is best for metabolic health and building muscle. After 45-50 minutes, cortisol levels start to rise (which is not the good hormone, it is the fat producing hormone). Short and sweet (30-45 mins of intense training) is always best.
When Should I Do Cardio?
Cardio is optional. If you want to improve your cardiovascular health, we recommend doing it on your off days, or if you have the energy, on mornings or after your workout 2-3 times per week.
Cardio is not the best for losing fat. Diet and building muscle is the best. Think of cardio as cardiovascular health, not fat loss.
That said, you will burn more calories during a cardio session than even an intense weightlifting session - however, it’s still negligible if you aren’t dieting right - diet is everything and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.
Is It Better To Workout 4 Or 5 Times A Week?
For most people, 4 times a week is plenty. If you are a busy professional, 4 days is perfect.
If you have the time and you are able to recover, then 5 days is also good.
But any more than that should be saved for the most advanced. At some point, less is more. You really need to be able to recover well to lift weights 6 days per week.
The Best Workout Splits: Final Takeaways
We hope you're ending this guide knowing your ideal training program. And depending on what you've discovered, there may be a few different programs that you can rotate throughout the year, which helps prevent training boredom.
While choosing a split that works best for your goals, experience and availability is important, the most crucial element of all is that you train hard and stick to your plan.
It’s all about consistency. Consistent hard work will surely lead to success.
Want the perfect workout plan? Take our workout plan quiz!
Looking for specific workouts you can follow? Check out these SFS Workouts for building muscle and strength!
References:
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine. 2016;46(11):1689-1697. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8
Sam Coleman
Author