Targeted Training: Creating Workout Splits for Specific Body Parts or Muscle Groups

A balanced weekly workout split, focusing on a variety of movements and total weekly volume, is arguably the most important factor for promoting hypertrophy.

A systematic review published in 2022 found that the optimal weekly volume to maximize hypertrophy is between 12 and 20 sets per muscle group. (1)

The problem is that designing a workout split that balances rest and high-volume days requires a lot of work. It takes careful planning and strategy to ensure all muscle groups receive the right amount of stimulus to drive hypertrophy without compromising recovery.

The good news is that I can show you exactly how to do this.

How To Create Workout Splits for Specific Body Parts or Muscle Groups?

To create an effective workout split that will optimally engage every muscle group, you need to focus on the following three things:

Weekly Volume

Weekly volume is the total amount of work done per muscle group. As I said before, you should aim for 12 to 20 total sets per muscle group to optimize your workouts for muscle growth.

Whether you go for 12, 16, or 20 sets doesn’t really matter. Based on my experience, the differences in results are mostly negligible, so my advice is to go with what feels good and what you can recover from.

To elevate this to another level, you should track your progress and implement different volume-based mesocycles for different muscle groups. Some studies indicate that super-high volume (32 weekly sets) leads to even better results, especially for the triceps and legs. (2)

Rest

Workout splits targeting each muscle group separately can be very taxing. Therefore, you must ensure your muscles are fully rested before the next session.

The rule I like to apply with all my clients involves resting a muscle group for 48-72 hours before training it again. In most cases, well-trained individuals feel fully recovered after 48, but an additional day is there just for good measure and injury prevention.

Exercise Selection

Given that you’re training each muscle group specifically, you might be tempted to do a lot of isolation exercises, but I would advise against it. A healthy mix of compound and isolation exercises is still the way to go here.

By combining compound and isolation exercises, you are effectively making the most out of your time in the gym.

For instance, bench presses will very effectively train your triceps, meaning you can shed an entire set when your triceps come around. Not only will this save time, but it will limit the fatigue your nervous system experiences after a prolonged resistance training session.

The Best Workout Split for Specific Body Parts or Muscle Groups

The best workout split for targeting all muscle groups during the week is push-pull-legs, with six working days and one rest day. On the surface, this may seem like a lot, but when it is well-designed, this is arguably the best approach to muscle-building if you’re an intermediate or an advanced lifter.

Now, let’s check out the workout split.

Monday — Push

On Monday, you’ll train the chest, triceps, and shoulders. You will start with heavy compound movements to engage the chest and triceps and finish the session with a shoulder exercise for your side delts, as the front delts will receive a ton of work from pressing motions.

Exercise	Sets & Reps
Barbell Bench Press	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Incline Bench Press	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Weighted Dips	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Cable Chest Flies	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Cable Tricep Pushdown	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Lateral Raises	4 sets, 8-12 reps

For best performance, do these exercises in the order outlined above.

However, if you want to shift focus onto your shoulders, feel free to start with shoulder isolation exercises. I would recommend pushing your last set of lateral raises beyond failure by doing long-length partials for a few extra reps.

Tuesday — Pull

Your second weekly session will focus on the back, biceps, and forearms. As was the case with your shoulders last time, your forearms will only receive a single dedicated exercise, as you will work them quite heavily during rows and pulldowns.

Exercise	Sets & Reps
Face Pulls	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Pull-Ups	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Lat Pulldowns	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Seated Cable Row	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Bicep Curls	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Wrist Curls	3 sets, 15-30 reps

I like to start with face pulls because they are a great warm-up exercise for your delts and rhomboids, allowing you to perform better when doing pull-ups. Also, they hit the rear delts very nicely, which is why you don’t train those on Monday.

Wednesday — Legs and Core

We don’t skip leg day here, and the leg workout you’ll do on Wednesday will be quite excruciating, so be prepared to wobble out of the gym.

Exercise	Sets & Reps
Seated Calf Raises	4 sets, 15-30 reps
Deadlift	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Barbell Squat	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Leg Extension	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Hamstring Curls	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Hip Thrust	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Cable Crunches	4 sets, 8-12 reps

Once again, we’re not starting with a major compound movement, and that’s simply because I’ve learned over the years that you won’t ever train your calves properly if you do them last. So, always start with calves if you want them to grow.

Thursday — Push

On your second push day, we will switch up some of the chest and triceps exercises, but not just for the sake of introducing variety. We’ll switch the conventional barbell bench press with the Smith machine bench press because it can help you push harder.

Why push harder? Well, your next chest session will be in four days, giving you plenty of time to rest.

Exercise	Sets & Reps
Smith Bench Press	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Incline Dumbell Press	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Machine Flies	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Cable Overhead Tricep Extensions	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Skullcrushers	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Cable Lateral Raise	4 sets, 8-12 reps

We’re also switching over to cable lateral raises solely for the purpose of getting a bigger stretch in the bottom position, which will be extremely hypertrophic during those long-length partials on your final set.

Friday — Pull

The second pull day differs from the first in that we’ll train arms heavily this time. That said, the back exercises will mostly involve wider grips to minimize bicep involvement.

Exercise	Sets & Reps
Face Pulls	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Wide-Grip Pull-Ups	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Barbell Rows	3 sets, 8-12 reps
EZ-Bar Bicep Curls	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Dumbell Incline Curl	3 sets, 8-12 reps

This time around, we won’t train forearms, as you will tire them out quite a bit during the session, especially with barbell rows. That said, if you want to train them, I suggest doing the reverse grip forearm curls.

Saturday — Legs, Core

The final workout of the week will be slightly less grueling than the Wednesday one, mostly because we’ll eliminate deadlifts. However, this session includes two additional exercises, so it will last a bit longer.

Exercise	Sets & Reps
Standing Calf Raises	4 sets, 15-30 reps
Hack Squat	4 sets, 8-12 reps
RDL	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Leg Extension	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Machine Hip Abduction	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Cable Hip Adduction	3 sets, 8-12 reps
Hip Thrust	4 sets, 8-12 reps
Cable Crunches	4 sets, 8-12 reps

Don’t rush through the reps when performing hip adduction and abduction exercises, and don’t use very heavy loads. Get a nice stretch, and focus on controlling the weight throughout the movement.

Sunday — Rest

Sunday is reserved for well-deserved rest, and that’s non-negotiable.

It is up to you whether you get a massage, spend the day in bed, or engage in some form of active recovery. Just make sure you don’t do any demanding physical activities.

How To Maximize Your Gains with the Push-Pull-Legs Split?

While following the workout split I outlined above is almost guaranteed to lead to excellent results — it is not the be-all and end-all of training for hypertrophy. To achieve great results, you must dial in several other aspects of your training.

Choose The Weight Wisely

First of all, don’t ego-lift. Lifting heavy helps build muscle, but it can also lead to injury, bad form, and unnecessary fatigue, which limits your ability to finish the session as you’re supposed to.

Instead, try to lift 60-80% of your one-rep max (1RM) for eight to 12 reps. This should allow you to finish three or four sets with near-perfect form, get you close to failure, and stimulate muscle growth.

Control the Weight

Controlling the weight, especially during the eccentric phase, is essential for hypertrophy. You should always aim to lower the weight for at least 2 to 3 seconds and then hold it at the most stretched position for a brief moment.

In fact, the 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis showed that the eccentric portion of the lift was far superior for muscle growth compared to the concentric portion (3). Therefore, it is definitely in your best interest not to rush through the movement.

Mind The Form

Lifting with proper technique is as important as lifting slow and heavy. Not only will the proper form help mitigate the risk of injury, but it will also help you train the muscles effectively.

Getting that deep stretch will help engage the target muscles as much as possible, so don’t compromise your range of motion.

Also, ego-lifting and moving the weight around by utilizing momentum significantly lowers the impact of exercise on the target muscle. So, while you might think you’re lifting heavier and progressing, you’re actually not. More often than not, all you do is increase the chance of injury.

Warm-Up Correctly

Adequate warm-up is crucial for injury prevention, particularly with a workout split as intense as this one.

Rather than relying solely on static stretching or foam rolling, it is better to prepare each muscle group for the upcoming activity. In other words, squat to warm up for squats, deadlift to warm up for deadlifts, and so on.

I suggest two warm-up sets that don’t fatigue you at all. The first warm-up set will be 8-10 reps with a very light load, say, 10% of your 1RM. In the second set, switch to working weight and do 2-3 reps. Rest for a minute, and get to work.

Of course, you don’t have to warm up for each exercise you’re about to do. For example, if you warm up for the bench press, you don’t have to warm up your shoulders for the overhead press.

Conclusion

If there’s one thing that’s certain in life, it is that you will definitely see the results of your hard work in the gym. The amount of scientific data showing that 12 or more weekly sets per muscle group lead to better results is simply overwhelming.

Sure, the first few weeks will be hard, but once the results become apparent, all that torment and anguish you endured won’t matter in the slightest. Why? Because your chest, delts, last, and quads will pop every time you get a pump!

Next Read: Effective Workout Split For Fat Loss

References:

1. Baz-Valle E, Balsalobre-Fernández C, Alix-Fages C, Santos-Concejero J. A Systematic Review of The Effects of Different Resistance Training Volumes on Muscle Hypertrophy. J Hum Kinet. 2022 Feb 10;81:199-210. doi: 10.2478/hukin-2022-0017. PMID: 35291645; PMCID: PMC8884877.
2. Brigatto FA, Lima LEM, Germano MD, Aoki MS, Braz TV, Lopes CR. High Resistance-Training Volume Enhances Muscle Thickness in Resistance-Trained Men. J Strength Cond Res. 2022 Jan 1;36(1):22-30. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003413. PMID: 31868813.
3. Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn DI, Vigotsky AD, Franchi MV, Krieger JW. Hypertrophic Effects of Concentric vs. Eccentric Muscle Actions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res. 2017 Sep;31(9):2599-2608. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001983. PMID: 28486337.

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