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FACT CHECKEDOne 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:
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:
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:
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
Three things to consider with Full Body Splits:
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.
Full body splits are best for:
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.
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:
Workout 2:
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:
Workout 2:
Workout 3:
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:
Workout 2:
Workout 3:
Workout 4:
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:
Let's look at the downsides of this split.
For more information on full body routines, check out our Full Guide to Full-Body Workout Plans.
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:
And with this in mind, the exercises your upper lower workout routine include should focus on the following:
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.
The most important factors to consider with Upper-Lower Workout Splits include:
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.
You should include several main lifts, including:
For upper body days:
For lower body days:
You can mix in some other great compound movements, such as:
Upper Body Assistance Compound Lifts:
Lower Body Assistance Compound Lifts:
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:
Upper lower workout splits are best for:
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.
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.
Workout #1 - Upper Body:
Workout #2 - Lower Body
Workout #3 - Upper Body
Workout #4 - Lower Body
Training Notes:
Here’s how the workouts should look.
Sample Upper Body Workout #1
Sample Lower Body Workout #1
Sample Upper Body Workout #2
Sample Lower Body Workout #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
There are many reasons why lifters gravitate to the upper-lower split. Here's what makes them so great.
If we had to sum it up, the upper lower split is great because it optimizes both volume and frequency as best as possible.
There's only one downside to an upper-lower split.
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.
The push pull leg split breaks your training days into:
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.
Schedule factors to consider with a PPL split include:
Here's who a PPL split is best for:
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.
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:
Programming Notes:
Sample Pull Workout:
Programming Notes:
Sample Leg Workout:
Programming Notes:
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.
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:
Pull A:
Leg A:
Push B:
Pull B:
Leg B:
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.
The benefits of a PPL split include:
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.
Downsides to a 3-day PPL include:
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.
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:
Pulling Exercises:
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).
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:
Since 4 days is the best for a Push Pull, we will just discuss this split based on that.
Here's who a push-pull split is best for:
On the whole, it is a great split for improving overall fitness for all levels.
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.
This option separates strength and hypertrophy days.
Sample Push A Workout (Strength):
Training Note: Change the order of the exercises each week.
Sample Pull A Workout (Strength):
Training Note: Change the order of the exercises each week.
Sample Push B Workout (Hypertrophy):
Training Note: You can do different variations each week.
Sample Pull B Workout (Hypertrophy:
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.
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:
Sample Pull A:
Sample Push B:
Sample Pull A:
Major vs Minor Lifts:
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).
Essentially, the push pull split gives you both the same benefits of the upper lower split and the full body split.
The push pull split is great for movement skill acquisition and building lean muscle, getting shredded, and improving strength.
There are a few downsides to the push-pull split.
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.
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.
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.
Wondering if the bro split is right for you? Here's who will benefit most from the body part split.
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).
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:
Notes: 60-90 seconds rest between sets & exercises.
Sample Back Day Workout:
Notes: 60-90 seconds rest between sets & exercises.
Sample Arm & Abs Day Workout:
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:
Note: 60-90 seconds rest between sets & exercises.
Sample Shoulder Day Workout:
Note for all workout days: Exercises can change each week, but be sure to keep the main compound lifts.
Wondering if the Bro Split is right for you? Here are the benefits.
No split is perfect! Here are the downsides to following a Bro Split.
To learn more about body part splits, check out our Full Guide to Bro Splits.
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:
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.
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:
Another great way to determine your perfect split is to let your training level guide you.
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.
Let's answer some frequently asked questions regarding finding the best 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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