Workout Splits: The Best 3, 4, 5 and 6 Day Splits

Pick Your Split in 30 Seconds

Three questions decide your split, in this order. First, how many days can you train every single week, including the bad weeks. Second, is your main goal strength, muscle, or general fitness. Third, how long have you been lifting with a plan.

• 3 days, any goal, new to lifting: full body A/B/C or 5x5.
• 4 days, muscle or strength, some experience: upper/lower, or PHUL if you want both.
• 5 days, mostly muscle, a year or more of training: PPL plus upper/lower, or a bro split if you like long single-muscle sessions.
• 6 days, muscle gain, good recovery: push pull legs run twice.

If you are unsure between two options, take the one with fewer days. A 3 day plan you never miss beats a 6 day plan you run four days a week.

3 Day Workout Splits

Three days a week is the most underrated schedule in lifting. You get four full rest days, every session matters, and life rarely gets in the way of three workouts. Here are the three workout splits for 3 days that I recommend most.

Full body A/B/C

Every session trains the whole body with a squat or hinge, a press, and a pull, then a couple of accessories. Each muscle gets hit three times a week at moderate volume, which is ideal for beginners and anyone short on time. Rotating three different days keeps the exercises fresh without losing practice on the main lifts.

• Monday: Full Body A
• Wednesday: Full Body B
• Friday: Full Body C

Exercises, sets and progression are in the full body workout routine.

Push pull legs once a week

If you can only train three fixed days but prefer longer, focused sessions, run push, pull and legs once each. Frequency drops to once a week per muscle, so push each set close to failure and keep the quality high. It works best for intermediates who already know how to train hard.

• Monday: Push
• Wednesday: Pull
• Friday: Legs

StrongLifts 5x5

Two workouts, A and B, alternated across three days, with 2.5 kg added to most lifts every session. It is the simplest way to get strong fast as a beginner, and the short exercise list means sessions stay under an hour. Read the 5x5 workout program guide for the progression and reset rules.

• Week 1: A, B, A
• Week 2: B, A, B

4 Day Workout Splits

Four days is where most lifters settle for years. It gives each muscle two sessions a week, leaves room for real volume, and still allows three rest days. Workout splits for 4 days nearly always pair upper body and lower body sessions.

Upper / lower

Two upper days and two lower days, each with a heavier main lift followed by accessories. It is the default 4 day split for size and strength because recovery is easy to manage: upper muscles rest while you train legs. Full sessions are in the upper lower split routine.

• Monday: Upper A
• Tuesday: Lower A
• Thursday: Upper B
• Friday: Lower B

PHUL

Power Hypertrophy Upper Lower uses the same layout but splits the week into two heavy days in the 3 to 5 rep range and two volume days in the 8 to 12 range. Choose it when you want your squat and bench to climb while you add muscle. The PHUL program guide covers the weekly flow.

• Monday: Upper Power
• Tuesday: Lower Power
• Thursday: Upper Hypertrophy
• Friday: Lower Hypertrophy

GZCLP

GZCLP rotates four short days built on tiers: a heavy T1 lift, a moderate T2 lift, and a high rep T3 accessory. It is a strong next step for lifters who have outgrown 5x5 but still progress week to week. Details are in the GZCLP program guide.

• Monday: A1
• Tuesday: B1
• Thursday: A2
• Friday: B2

5 Day Workout Splits

Five days suits lifters with a year or more of steady training who want more volume and enjoy being in the gym. Recovery becomes the limit, so watch your sleep and food before adding sets.

Bro split

One muscle group per day, trained hard with lots of sets. It gives each muscle a full week to recover and makes sessions feel focused. It works for experienced bodybuilders who can push volume high, and less well for beginners who need more practice on the main lifts. See the bro split routine for the full plan.

• Monday: Chest
• Tuesday: Back
• Wednesday: Legs
• Thursday: Shoulders
• Friday: Arms

PPL plus upper/lower hybrid

My favorite 5 day split for intermediates. You run upper and lower early in the week, then push, pull and legs after a rest day. Every muscle is trained about twice a week, and legs get two sessions without stacking them back to back.

• Monday: Upper
• Tuesday: Lower
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Push
• Friday: Pull
• Saturday: Legs

Arnold split, 5 day variation

The classic Arnold split pairs chest with back, shoulders with arms, and gives legs their own day, run twice in six days. To fit five days, run the three-day cycle on a rolling basis of three days on and one off. You still hit each muscle close to twice a week. Read the Arnold split routine before you start; the volume is high.

• Day 1: Chest and Back
• Day 2: Shoulders and Arms
• Day 3: Legs
• Day 4: Rest, then repeat the cycle

6 Day Workout Splits

Push pull legs twice

Push, pull and legs, then repeat, with one rest day. Each muscle gets two sessions and plenty of weekly sets, which makes it one of the best workout splits for muscle gain if you can recover from it. Keep the second round of each day a little lighter or use different exercises, and follow the progression notes in our push pull legs routine.

• Monday: Push
• Tuesday: Pull
• Wednesday: Legs
• Thursday: Push
• Friday: Pull
• Saturday: Legs
• Sunday: Rest

Best Workout Splits for Muscle Gain

For muscle gain, the split matters less than two things: hard sets per muscle per week, and training each muscle at least twice a week. Most lifters grow well on 10 to 20 hard sets per muscle each week, taken within a few reps of failure. Our guide on how many sets per muscle per week explains how to find your number.

With that in mind, the best workout splits for muscle gain are upper/lower on 4 days, PPL plus upper/lower on 5 days, and push pull legs twice on 6 days. All three train each muscle twice a week and spread the volume so no single session runs too long. The bro split can build muscle too, but you need to fit all the weekly volume for a muscle into one session, which gets harder as you get stronger. Our guide on how many sets per workout shows where that per-session limit sits.

Workout Splits for Beginners

Good workout splits for beginners share three traits: few days, few exercises, and the same main lifts several times a week. Full body A/B/C and 5x5 both fit. You learn the squat, bench, deadlift, row and overhead press by repetition, and you can add weight almost every session for the first few months.

Resist the urge to copy a 6 day bodybuilding plan from social media. Beginners do not need that much volume, and the extra sessions mostly add fatigue and missed workouts. When your lifts stop rising session to session, move to a 4 day upper/lower split or GZCLP.

Workout Splits for Women

Women can run the same workout splits as men. Muscle responds to the same signals: progressive load, enough hard sets, and recovery. Many women prefer a little more lower body and glute volume, which is easy to add to a full body or upper/lower split with hip thrusts or split squats. Our workout plan for women lays out a 3 day full body and 4 day upper/lower template with starting weights.

How to Choose and How to Progress

Choose by schedule first, goal second, and experience third. Then commit for at least eight to twelve weeks. Switching splits every month is the most common reason I see lifters stall, because they never stay long enough for progression to add up.

Progress inside any split by adding a little weight or a rep or two to the main lifts over time. Start by estimating your maxes with the 1RM calculator, then compare them with the strength standards for your bodyweight to see where you stand. If a lift is far behind the others, give it an extra set or an extra day in your split.

Recovery is part of the split, not an afterthought. Put rest days between the hardest sessions, such as heavy squats and heavy deadlifts, and avoid training the same muscle hard on back to back days. Every six to eight weeks, or whenever your lifts go backward for two sessions in a row, take a lighter week. Our guide on how to deload shows how to cut volume without losing progress. On higher frequency splits, sleep and protein do more for your results than any extra set.

Logging is what makes progression possible. A strength training app that pre-fills last session's weights shows you exactly what to beat next time and flags personal records automatically. Every routine on this page opens straight into 1RM.fit with sets and reps filled in, so you can start logging today.

Frequently Asked Questions