What is a Workout Split? Your Guide to Creating Effective Training Routines

While spontaneous gym sessions can help improve your fitness and health, adopting a strategic training plan is substantially more beneficial.

According to a 2019 randomized controlled trial, training frequency potentially plays a significant role in hypertrophy and muscle thickness (1). Hence, meticulously planning your workout sessions and choosing an appropriate workout split is advisable for optimal outcomes.

In this article, I’ll tell you all you need to know about a workout split, including what it is, what you should expect, and how to choose one for yourself.

What is a Workout Split?

A workout split involves dividing your workouts to focus on distinct body regions, muscle groups, training intervals, and frequency or types of movements. It is a system that determines what, when, and how you train.

The main principle is simple. By scheduling and planning your workouts to target every muscle group, you ensure balanced strength, muscle, and endurance development.

Due to its simplistic nature, a workout split can be highly customizable. There are several training splits, each with its own set of benefits. However, based on my decade-long experience (and a 2021 study), there is no such thing as the “best workout split.” (2)

The best workout split for you is the one that is programmed to align with your goals.

Most Common Types of Workout Splits

The right training split for you will depend on your fitness and experience levels. Here is an overview of the most popular training splits:

Full-Body Split

As the name implies, a full-body split involves training your whole body in each workout.

I usually recommend this split to clients who have no prior training experience. This allows me to identify their strengths and weaknesses and gradually improve their strength and conditioning without overwhelming them.

A three-day full-body weekly workout split would look something like this:

• Monday: Full Body
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: Full Body
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: Full Body
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Rest

Each working day can be tailored to your unique needs, meaning if your chest feels sore from the Monday workout, you can limit chest exercises on Wednesday. 

I always talk to my clients before a workout to see how they’re feeling and what’s sore to maximize output.

For example, if a client’s lower back hasn’t recovered from the previous session but the lats feel fine — we’ll make the necessary adjustments. Instead of deadlifts, we’ll focus on some assisted pull-ups or seated rows.

Pros	Cons
Ideal split for beginners	Not enough muscle stimulation for hypertrophy
Offers a great balance between training and rest	Not challenging enough for intermediate and advanced lifters
Very flexible and easily customizable

Upper & Lower Body Split

This split divides your weekly training into upper and lower body sessions. The upper-lower body split is usually a natural progression to the full-body split as exercisers seek more focused work and increased volume.

For example, an upper-lower weekly split would be:

• Monday: Upper Body
• Tuesday: Lower Body
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Upper Body
• Friday: Lower Body
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Rest

Similar to the full-body regimen, the upper-lower split provides a well-rounded training experience. You train each muscle group at least twice weekly.

By focusing primarily on compound movements, you engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, ensuring all muscle groups receive enough stimulus and time under tension. For example, the bench press not only works your chest but also engages your front delts and triceps. Pull-ups target your lats, traps, and biceps.

That said, some isolation exercises like lateral raises or bicep curls are also included to ensure overall development.

The same goes for lower body days. You would train your legs with heavy compound movements like squats or stiff-leg deadlifts while incorporating isolation exercises like leg extensions.

Pros	Cons
Good progression split for beginners	Not enough volume for hypertrophy
Highly customizable and rarely repetitive	Doesn’t allow targetted work to fix muscle and strength imbalances
Provides ample rest for each muscle group

The Bro Split

A ‘bro split’ is an immensely popular five-day workout regime designed to target each muscle group once weekly. 

Contrary to what most people believe, bro-split is effective and can lead to hypertrophy and strength gains. However, I am not a fan of this approach. Unlike the previous two methods, the bro split lacks balance. 

Here is a typical bro split:

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

The first problem with the bro split is it doesn’t streamline rest and recovery. While the daily workouts are structured so that muscular fatigue isn’t an issue, the split doesn’t account for mental fatigue, which is a very significant factor. 

Also, it is highly unlikely that you will achieve an optimal weekly volume (sets and reps) for each muscle group (especially legs) on the bro split to maximize hypertrophy.

Pros	Cons
Easy to structure	Does not prioritize rest
Targets each muscle group	Generally lacks volume
Shorter training sessions

Read also: Our ultimate guide on Bro Split here.

Push-Pull-Legs Split

This is one of my favorite workout splits. It offers a well-balanced approach to training your whole body and getting proper rest.

This method does not focus on different muscle groups but on movements — pushing and pulling, plus leg training.

What’s great about this workout split is you get to train each muscle group twice a week. In doing so, you can achieve optimal volume to maximize hypertrophy and strength gains and give your body enough time to rest.

A well-designed push-pull-legs weekly regimen would look something like this:

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

I have noticed that many lifters following the push-pull-legs split often feel bored due to repetitive workouts. However, that doesn’t have to be the case.

For example, you can do barbell bench presses for two weeks, and when that gets a bit boring, you can switch to dumbbells or a machine. If cable chest flies become redundant, switch to a pec deck machine. Are dumbbell side lateral raises annoying you? Do cable lateral raises instead. You get the point.

Pros	Cons
One of the most well-balanced splits	Can be monotonous
Easy to progressively overload	Training sessions can be quite long
Geared towards hypertrophy and bodybuilding

Three-Day Split

A three-day split is an excellent way to train if you want to stay fit and healthy but aren’t particularly interested in maximizing hypertrophy. In fact, this is my go-to split during the summer months.

The three-day split involves working multiple muscle groups simultaneously, followed by a rest day. A week of training following this split looks like this:

• Monday: Chest and Arms
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: Back and Shoulders
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: Legs and Core
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Rest

As I said, this is not an ideal approach if you’re interested in bodybuilding, as the weekly volume is simply not enough to drive hypertrophy. 

However, a three-day split is perfect for you if you want to stay fit and go for hikes, runs, rock climbing, or swimming during the week.

Pros	Cons
Great for an active lifestyle	Not ideal for hypertrophy or bodybuilding
Extremely time efficient	It isn’t challenging enough for advanced lifers
Prioritizes rest more than any other split	Not the easiest to structure properly

Benefits of Workout Splits

A workout split is essentially just a weekly exercise schedule that ensures you hit each muscle group, but that’s hardly the only reason why it is important. There are numerous benefits you should be aware of.

Sets a Great Base For Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is the most vital concept in training and the only way to ensure constant improvements in size, strength, endurance, or any other aspect of physical fitness. It involves gradually increasing the intensity or volume of your workouts to challenge your body consistently.

Workout splits can provide the base necessary for progressive overload. Without a clear record of your previous workouts, increasing the intensity of your training sessions is very hard.

Following a structured workout routine and tracking your exercises, weights, sets, and reps allows for more effective progress. With this information, you can incrementally increase your reps or add weight to make steady progress.

Provides Enough Time For Rest and Minimizes Injury Risk

Muscles generally take about 48 hours to fully recover from an intense training session. If you look at the workout splits I outlined, you will see that you almost never train the same muscle group more than once every two days.

There are two reasons why this is important. One, muscles grow while you are resting, so if you train them daily, you will never see any significant results. In fact, you might see the opposite. Overtraining can even lead to health issues like rhabdomyolysis. (3)

In addition to not seeing the desired results — you could also injure yourself. Training a sore or injured muscle could lead to strains, contusions, or even tears.

Yes, injuries can happen no matter how careful and diligent you are with your workout splits, but it is up to us to ensure the risk is as low as possible. Workout splits play a pivotal role in this process.

By knowing precisely what, how, and on which day you trained a certain muscle, you can ensure your muscles are fully rested and ready to go before you train them next.

There’s a Split For Everyone

There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to workout splits. 

A beginner can’t train like a pro and expect good things to happen, and vice versa. Training for bodybuilding and athletic performance also requires a different approach. Losing weight and gaining muscle mass will also require unique methods.

So, don’t get caught up trying to figure out the ‘best’ workout split. 

Sure, beginners should start with simple full-body workouts that tackle major muscle groups and focus on improving general fitness. However, as soon as you’re past the beginner phase — you can experiment with different regimes to determine what works best for you.

It Helps You Focus and Be More Productive

While this might sound vague or generalized, it isn’t. Removing the guesswork from your training will help you concentrate on the workouts. Instead of thinking about which exercise you’ll do next, you will stay focused on your form, technique, breathing, and intensity.

Conclusion

Every workout split has its own set of benefits and drawbacks. Whether you’re a beginner or an elite athlete, you must find the split that will help you achieve your fitness objectives. After that, the only thing left to do is work hard, and the results will be evident sooner rather than later.

References:

1. Zaroni RS, Brigatto FA, Schoenfeld BJ, Braz TV, Benvenutti JC, Germano MD, Marchetti PH, Aoki MS, Lopes CR. High Resistance-Training Frequency Enhances Muscle Thickness in Resistance-Trained Men. J Strength Cond Res. 2019 Jul;33 Suppl 1:S140-S151. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002643. PMID: 31260419.
2. Evangelista AL, Braz TV, La Scala Teixeira CV, Rica RL, Alonso AC, Barbosa WA, Reis VM, Baker JS, Schoenfeld BJ, Bocalini DS, Greve JMD. Split or full-body workout routine: which is best to increase muscle strength and hypertrophy? Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2021 Aug 30;19:eAO5781. doi: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2021AO5781. PMID: 34468591; PMCID: PMC8372753.
3. Sunder A, Mohanty B, Singh A, Yadav P. Rhabdomyolysis – Exercise induced nightmare. J Family Med Prim Care. 2019 Jan;8(1):305-307. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_370_18. PMID: 30911528; PMCID: PMC6396594.

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