The 5-day workout split, in my opinion, is the best you’ll come across. It leaves plenty of time to rest (and do other stuff) while still giving you enough room to build a ton of mass.
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But how do you actually program this? And which days should follow which?
Keep reading while I answer that question and so many more.
Killer 5-Day Workout Split Overview
Why did I open this article with rest time? Isn’t the goal of training to train? Well, yes. However, you’re never going to grow if you don’t rest enough. Rest is just one of the five most important parts of any training plan:
- Training volume (how much you’re exercising)
- Nutrition and hydration (food quantity and quality)
- Stress levels (at home and at work)
- Sleep and recovery (this includes everything you’re doing outside of the gym)
- (If you’re so inclined) Supplementation
As you can see, every single section on this list plays a huge role. All of them can be manipulated except for sleep, recovery, and stress management. Failure to do so will only lead to poor recovery, increased cortisol, fat gain, muscle loss, and even hormonal damage.
This is why the 5-day split can work beautifully — 2 rest days per week!
- Fitness level: Advanced
- Duration: 16 weeks
- Workouts per week: 5 workouts per week
- Average workout duration: 60 – 75 minutes
- Equipment needed: Full gym
- Goal: Build muscle
Special Considerations For Newbies
As you can see, this plan has been developed for advanced people. Now, this doesn’t mean that inexperienced lifters can’t use the plan, but you might wanna make some changes.
Inexperienced lifters typically need less volume compared to more experienced folk. So if you’ve been training for fewer than 12 months, you can reduce the volume by 20 – 30%.
If you train close to failure (within three reps) too often, you run the risk of injury. As a beginner, only take some of your sets that are close to failure — but definitely not each one.
What’s the Point of This 16-Week Program Anyway?
You may have also noticed the plan is a whopping 16 weeks long. Those that have built a decent amount of mass know that this is how long physiological adaptations actually take. It takes weeks to build the neuro-movement patterns to actually get good at a movement.
With that said, the program has also been developed with the sole goal of gaining muscle mass.
Does that mean it’s inaccessible to those dieting? Yes, it does.
When calories are reduced (like when you’re dieting), your recovery capabilities are shot. Thus, you should be in a calorie surplus or at least at maintenance.
A Quick Look at the Weekly Schedule
Now that all the boring parts are out of the way, we can move on to the actual lifting program.
You’ll be lifting 5 days per week:
| Day of the Week | Workout |
| Monday | Push and Quads (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, and Quads) |
| Tuesday | Pull and Hamstrings (Lats, Upper Back, Biceps, and Hamstrings) |
| Wednesday | OFF |
| Thursday | Upper (Chest, Shoulders, Lats, and Upper Back) |
| Friday | Lower (Legs) |
| Saturday | Arms and Core (Biceps, Triceps, and Abs) |
| Sunday | OFF |
5-Day Split Schedule & Details
The way the schedule is set up allows us to hit muscles two or even three times per week. This is quite high frequency, meaning the volume over the week has to be lowered by decreasing the volume per session.
This, in turn, means we get to train really, really hard. We’ll be using an RPE scale and a Reps in Reserve (RIR) scale as well.
This will tell you exactly how hard and close to failure a set needs to be. Not all of the sets will be to failure, and the volume over time will not remain the same.
There are two distinct phases to this plan:
- Phase 1 will take place from week 1 to week 8. In this phase, the goal is to chase reps, not weight. You’ll chase the upper limit of the rep scheme, and when you hit that number on all of your sets (for a particular exercise), then — and only then — can you increase the load.
- Phase 2 is the exact opposite. You’ll be chasing weight, and you’ll be using lifting techniques that’ll make you feel like crap. The goal here is to push your body to the absolute limit. Take great care to recover enough during this time, or it can come back to bite you in the butt.
Overall, we’re trying to apply progressive overload in any way we can. This is done via mechanical tension. So whether we increase load, reps, or volume, we’re asking more of the muscle. In response, it needs to grow.
Here’s the plan:
Phase 1: The Beginning Phase (Weeks 1 – 8)
Day 1: Push and Quads
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| Low Incline Barbell Press | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 2 2 2 | Should be lower than 45 degrees but at least higher than 10 |
| Decline Dumbbell Press | 1 2 | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 3 3 | Can be substituted for declined cable press |
| Cable Lateral Raises | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 2 2 2 | We prefer cables because the tension is a lot better compared to dumbbells |
| Rear Delt Reverse Pec Dec | 1 2 | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 3 3 | |
| JM Press | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 2 2 2 | Might be tough on the elbows, so substitute with skull crushers if needed |
| Overhead Rope Tricep Extension | 1 2 | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 3 3 | |
| Leg Extension | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 1 | Going really close to failure, so make sure you give each set your all |
Day 2: Pull and Hamstrings
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| Single Arm Pulldown | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 2 2 2 | The goal of the exercise is to draw the elbow as close to the base of the spine as you can |
| Straight Arm Pulldown | 1 2 | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 3 3 | A slight bend in your arms is permitted, but don’t overdo it |
| Chest Supported Upper Back Rows | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 2 2 2 | Imagine squeezing a piece of paper between your shoulder blades |
| Barbell Rows | 1 2 | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 3 3 | Make sure to wear a belt if you feel your back needs it |
| Dumbbell Preacher Curls | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 2 2 2 | |
| Barbell Curls | 1 2 | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 3 3 | Don’t rock your body (sorry, Justin Timberlake) |
| Seated Leg Curls | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 1 | Try not to lift your pelvis from the pad; that’s called cheating (just ask my ex) |
Day 3: Upper
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| Flat Dumbbell Press | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 15 | 1 1 1 | Keep the elbows at 45 degrees between the body and shoulder line |
| Barbell Upper Back Rows | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 1 | Like a normal barbell row, but you’ll pull toward the upper body (Google “Yate Rows”) |
| Barbell Overhead Press | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 1 | I’d prefer you do these seated in a Smith machine |
| Pull-Ups (weighted if you can) | 1 2 3 | To failure To failure To failure | 0 0 0 | If you can’t do pull-ups yet, a pulldown machine will suffice |
| Single Arm Cable Curls (facing away from the machine) | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 14 | 1 1 1 | |
| Single Arm Rope Tricep Extension | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 14 | 1 1 1 |
Day 4: Lower
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| Stiff Leg Deadlift | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 15 | 1 2 2 | Use. A. Fricken. Belt. |
| Glute Kickback | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 1 | |
| Leg Press | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 2 3 | Go nice and deep; the goal is to get the full range of motion on these |
| Leg Extensions | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 1 | |
| Seated Hamstring Curl | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 14 | 1 1 1 | |
| Lying Hamstring Curl | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 14 | 2 2 2 | Try not to lift your pelvis from the pad; that’s called cheating |
Day 5: Arms
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| EZ Bar Curls | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 15 | 1 1 1 | Don’t use motion to rock your body back and forward |
| Hammer Curls | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 2 2 2 | |
| Drag Curls | 1 2 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 | 1 1 | You’ll have to Google how to do these |
| Rope Tricep Extensions | 1 2 3 | To failure To failure To failure | 1 2 3 | Make sure to extend fully at the top |
| Close Grip Bench Press | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 14 | 1 2 2 | |
| Dumbbell Overhead Extensions | 1 2 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 | 1 1 |
Again, in this phase, the goal is to chase the upper limit of the rep range and only increase the load once you’ve reached it.
Side note: it might be a good idea to log your lifts in a book while in the gym.
Phase 2: Good Luck (Weeks 9 – 16)
Now that you’ve made it to phase 2, the workouts will be changing slightly. This is partly to keep the workouts interesting, but it’s mostly to force continuous adaptation. And because you’ve been training so hard the past few weeks, we might need to train even harder now.
We’ll be using different lifting techniques to eke out as much performance from you as we possibly can, so here are some terms you’ll need to know:
- A drop set (DS) is simply taking a set to failure on one weight, immediately dropping the weight by 20 – 30%, and then going to failure once again. That’s one single drop set.
- A rest pause set (RP) means taking a set to complete failure, setting the weight down for 10 seconds, and going to fail once again. This can be done multiple times but will be specified.
- A giant set (GS) will have you do a large number of reps, typically more than 20, and you’re supposed to use as few sets as you possibly can to get there.
- A tempo set (TS) means that the tempo of the lift changes. You’ll spend three seconds lowering the weight, one second in the stretched position, three seconds raising the weight, and one second at the top (3/1/3/1).
- A loaded stretch (LS) is, as the name indicates, a stretch you use on the target muscle using load for 30 seconds.
Now that we have that under the belt, we can finally take a look at how the actual workouts are going to look:
Day 1: Push and Quads
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| High Incline Barbell Press | 1 2 (GS) | 5 – 8 30 | 1 0 | Set 2 is a giant set; Make sure you’re warmed up properly and that you have a spotter |
| Dips | 1 2 (TS) | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 1 0 | Tempo sets can burn a lot, so don’t expect to love them |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 | Holding dumbbells in a stretch position on a dumbbell press |
| Cable Lateral Raises | 1 2 (DS) | 5 – 8 8 – 16 | 2 0 | For set 2, 16 is the upper limit for the second part of the drop set |
| Front Raise | 1 2 | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 1 2 | Just straight sets |
| JM Press | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 2 2 2 | Might be tough on the elbows, so substitute with skull crushers if needed |
| Overhead Rope Tricep Extension | 1 2 (RP) | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 3 0 | |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 | Holding a cable behind your head to stretch the tricep is a good option (dumbbells also work) |
| Leg Extension | 1 2 3 (RP) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 0 | Going really close to failure, so make sure you give each set your all |
Day 2: Pull and Hamstrings
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| Wide Grip Pulldown | 1 2 3 (DS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 20 | 2 2 0 | The goal of the exercise is to draw the elbow as close to the base of the spine as you can |
| Single Arm Dumbbell Rows | 1 2 | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 3 3 | Straight sets; don’t rotate the body too much |
| Chest Supported Upper Back Rows | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 2 2 2 | Imagine squeezing a piece of paper between your shoulder blades |
| Chin-ups | 1 (TS) | To failure | 0 | Good luck |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 | Grab a pull-up bar and stretch one lat at a time |
| Dumbbell Preacher Curls | 1 2 3 (DS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 20 | 2 2 0 | |
| Barbell Curls | 1 2 | 10 – 15 15 – 20 | 3 3 | Don’t rock your body, no matter what JT says |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 | |
| Seated Leg Curls | 1 (TS) 2 (TS) 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 1 | Try not to lift your pelvis from the pad |
Day 3: Upper
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| Flat Dumbbell Flyes | 1 2 3 (DS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 20 | 1 1 0 | Keep the elbows at 45 degrees between the body and shoulder lien |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 | |
| Barbell Upper Back Rows | 1 2 3 (RP) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 0 | Like a normal barbell row, but you’ll pull toward the upper body |
| Barbell Overhead Press | 1 2 3 (RP) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 20 | 1 1 0 | I’d prefer you do these seated in a Smith machine |
| Pull-Ups (weighted if you can) | 1 2 3 | To failure To failure To failure | 0 0 0 | If you can’t do pull-ups yet, a pulldown machine will suffice |
| Single Arm Cable Curls (facing away from the machine) | 1 2 3 (TS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 14 | 1 1 0 | |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 | |
| Single Arm Rope Tricep Extension | 1 2 3 (TS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 14 | 1 1 0 | |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 |
Day 4: Lower
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| Glute Bridge | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 15 | 1 2 2 | Best to use a Smith machine when doing these |
| Glute Kickback | 1 2 3 (DS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 20 | 1 1 0 | |
| Leg Press | 1 2 3 (GS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 30 | 1 2 0 | Again, good luck |
| Leg Extensions | 1 2 3 (TS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 12 | 1 1 1 | |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 | Do the ‘ol classic grab one leg at a time to stretch the quads |
| Seated Hamstring Curl | 1 2 3 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 14 | 1 1 1 | |
| Lying Hamstring Curl | 1 2 3 (TS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 10 – 14 | 2 2 2 | Try not to lift your pelvis from the pad |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 |
Day 5: Arms
| Exercise | Set(s) | Reps | RIR | Notes |
| EZ Bar Curls on the Cables | 1 2 3 (GS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 30 | 1 1 0 | Don’t use motion to rock your body back and forward |
| Hammer Curls | 1 2 | 5 – 8 8 – 10 | 2 0 | |
| Reverse Curls | 1 2 (DS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 | 1 1 | You can either use a straight or EZ bar |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 | |
| Rope Tricep Extensions | 1 2 3 | To failure To failure To failure | 1 2 3 | Make sure to extend fully at the top |
| Close Grip Bench Press | 1 2 3 (GS) | 5 – 8 8 – 10 30 | 1 2 0 | |
| Dumbbell Overhead Extensions | 1 2 (DS) | 5 – 8 8 – 16 | 1 0 | |
| Loaded Stretch | 1 | 30 seconds | 0 |
And there you have it, folks. A full program that has been designed for you to progress leaps and bounds.
FAQ
Now, I know you’re going to be riddled with questions, so let’s address some of them here:
My Gym Doesn’t Have That Machine … What Now?
Simply use Google to find a replacement — something that targets the same muscles and doesn’t shift the load elsewhere.
Should I Be Doing Cardio?
Unless you need it for health or cardio fitness, no. The goal is muscle gain – period. The heavier folks (those of you more than 280lbs) might benefit a lot here, seeing as your cardio fitness might be a limiting factor in some of your lifts.
Should I Take a Deload?
Unless you’re getting weaker week to week, no. You should, however, take one after week 16 is complete. A deload simply means a week where both your volume and load are lowered by 25 – 40%. It’s a time to rest the body, CNS, and mind.
What Should I Do After This Program?
Besides hating giant sets? Anything, really. You can do it again or work on losing some body fat. The choice is yours!
5-Day Split For Maximum Muscle Diet
Speaking of body fat, you’re probably wondering how you should be eating on this plan. Well, as I mentioned before, you should at least be at maintenance calories, but ideally, you’d be in a surplus.
For general purposes, there are some simple rules you would want to follow.
First, you need to eat a certain number of calories, or you run the risk of actually not gaining any muscle at all. You can calculate the number here and add 200 calories or 10% to that, depending on which comes first.
If you’re naturally heavier set, you might want to start at 150. If you know you’re a hard gainer, maybe start at 250.
Once you know the calorie intake, you can calculate your macros. Eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, and the rest of the calories you can split between fats and carbs as you wish.
Once weight gain stops, simply add another 200 calories or 10% to that, depending on which comes first. You should be gaining 0.5 – 1.0% of your total body weight per week.
Other Diet Tips For Gaining Muscle
Now that the basics are covered, we can look at tips (not rules) for gaining muscle.
- More carbs around your workout could result in lower cortisol, meaning more gains. Play around with easily digestible carbs and even an Intra-workout shake every now and then.
- Subbing high-fat proteins instead of leaner options is an easy way to add some extra calories.
- If you still struggle to get all your calories in, try blending your food. It’s much easier to drink your calories than to eat them.
- Adding fat to meals in the form of nuts and/or healthy fats is another way to increase calorie intake easily.
- If your hunger is really bad, try to reduce the amount of fiber and veggies in your diet. This is hardly perfect, but hey, gains?
- Try cooking more interesting and tastier food. Instead of eating chicken and rice, try rice noodles with an Asian sauce and stir-fried chicken. If you want to do this for a long time, you’ll have to learn how to cook interesting meals that taste better than just plain chicken and rice.
Other than these small tips, there really isn’t much you should be doing. Do the basics, and do them right.
The Shortcuts to Muscle Gains
… SIKE!
There are no real “shortcuts.” So before you ask, the following are not good ideas:
- Fasting will limit the amount of time you have “nutrition” actually in the body, thereby limiting the ability to grow muscle tissue.
- Keto diets would work, theoretically. However, it really isn’t advised, as carbs seem to be far better for training and recovery.
- Staying too lean will only result in limited muscle gain. You should gain some fat mass, but not too much. You should be walking a fine line, but gaining some fat isn’t the end of the world.
- Only eating junk food and doing a dirty bulk will only lead to fat gain. This can — in turn — lead to inflammation, injuries, and even some mental health issues. Again, try to walk a fine line between staying lean and gaining a bit of pudge.
- No, you can’t fit all your protein and/or food in one meal. You want to spread them out evenly throughout the day. However, you won’t eat 6 meals per day. Eat as much as you can comfortably. A good rule of thumb is to take total protein and divide it by the number of meals you have. This is the amount of protein you should eat per meal.
3 Workout Split Pros
- Progressive overload is still the single best way of actually making progress. Regardless of what influencers will have you believe, a workout like this that encourages you to get stronger is scientifically proven to be the best for muscle gain.
- You get a decent amount of variety. Not just in the workout selections but in the lifting techniques and styles as well. Some sets are higher reps, while others are low and heavy. This makes the plan really engaging and exciting to follow.
- It was created for a specific population. While this can be seen as a flaw as well, you can’t deny that having a program that has been designed for people in your situation is better than using something that wasn’t designed for someone with the same goals.
2 Workout Split Cons
- It’s been specifically designed for more experienced lifters, meaning a large portion of the population will not be able to follow this plan at all.
- It definitely isn’t easy. I’m not saying that other programs are easy, but this one has been designed to get you results. That means making some sacrifices in regards to feeling comfortable, doing lighter sessions, or things like that. It’s hard, it’s tough, and you’ll have to make sacrifices for the gains — get used to it.
Killer 5-Day Workout Split Conclusion
Why would you ever want to stick to a 5-day split? Why not stick to a 7-day split, seeing as training more would be better?
Because … you don’t grow while you train. You grow while you sleep and while you rest. You have to get this into your mind that the body can only take so much before it starts biting back.
The body needs nurturing, sleep, food, and plenty of rest. This is why a 5-day split offers the best bang for your buck, as you get to rest for two days per week! In my opinion, even a 6-day split would be too much (if you train hard, of course).
As mentioned at various points in this article, you gotta respect the body and rest as much as you possibly can. Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night, and try to reduce your overall stress as best you can.
Other than this, eat good food, train hard, and give your best every single session. This may sound “too simple,” but it really is that simple.
There is no magic pill.
Work harder. End.
