Introduction
We all know that training every muscle group twice a week is the optimal way to increase strength and growth, however, fitting this into your weekly training schedule might be a bit tricky. Depending on how many days you train you might find it difficult to fit everything in. Luckily for you, this post is going to run you through a 3-day training all the way to a 6-day training Gym Split. Giving out recommendations for each day.
These are only ideas and there are other options that you can use. If you prefer another option then please let us know over on our Instagram here. These are just our suggestions and can be used as a starting point for your training.
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3 Days a Week Training Split
Three days a week might sound like you don’t have enough days in the week properly train, to reach enough volume. However, 3 days a week can work out to be really effective. Why is that? Well, you get the possibility of training every muscle group 3 times. An example of a 3-day Gym Split routine might be like this.
- Monday: Full body
- Tuesday: Rest Day
- Wednesday: Full Body
- Thursday: Rest Day
- Friday: Full Body
- Saturday: Rest Day
- Sunday: Rest Day
As you can see, you will train, then have a rest day, then train and then rest day etc. You will still get a full weekend. The only downside of training 3 days a week, is that your sessions might become longer than normal due to fitting so much volume in one session. I personally love this workout split because you can train your favourite muscle 3 times a week. When training 3 days a week, you want to focus on your compound exercise first.
4 Days a Week Training Split
A 4-day training split works out really well. If we split the body into upper and lower muscle groups, then you can train each group twice. With a rest day in-between (Depending on your weekly routine) so you will be able to fully recover after each session. So, for example, you might do something like this.
- Monday: Upper Day
- Tuesday: Lower Day
- Wednesday: Rest Day
- Thursday: Upper Day
- Friday: Lower Day
- Saturday: Rest Day
- Sunday: Rest Day
This is a great split for many reasons. You train every muscle group twice a week, plus you still get your weekend and plenty of rest. So you will make amazing progress, while still maintaining your social life. The downside of this split is that you will find your sessions being longer than normal, Due to the volume you will have to fit in per session. Utilising supersets, and paused reps is a great way to counter this issue.
5 Days a Week Training Split
5 day gym week tends to be the norm for most people, as it works with their work schedule, so they workout Monday to Friday and have the weekend off. I personally like to have a rest day mid-week, this way you can have a full day to fully recover. With that in mind here is what a 5 day workout week might look like.
- Monday: Lower Day
- Tuesday: Upper Day
- Wednesday: Rest Day
- Thursday: Lower Day
- Friday: Push Day
- Saturday: Pull Day
- Sunday: Rest Day
As you can see, and what we have already mentioned above, with this schedule you will get a rest day Midweek. Allowing you to go harder during the session, while knowing that you will be a getting a full rest day. You will also notice that you get to train all muscles twice a week, but in two different ways, using Upper, Lower and then Push, Pull and Leg, a great way to keep you Gym Splits exciting. The downside of using the format above is that you will be working out on the Weekend.
6 Days a Week Training Split
This workout schedule is the most advanced, and the most versatile. 6 days allows for you to train each muscle group, hard in each session, but the downside is you get less recovery time. An example of a 6 day workout week might look something like this.
- Monday: Lower Day
- Tuesday: Push Day
- Wednesday: Pull Day
- Thursday: Rest Day
- Friday: Leg Day
- Saturday: Push Day
- Sunday: Pull Day
As I have mentioned above, a 6-day Gym Splits is great because you can train each muscle group for longer. The huge downside, or what we consider a huge downside, of a 6 day Gym Splits is that you only get one rest day. This isn’t the best because you stand the chance of burning out and then not performing at your best. Saying this, the chance to work out every muscle group, fully, twice a week is amazing.
Outro
So, as you can see there is a huge choice when it comes to the Gym Split that’s best for you. It all depends on how many times you want to go to the gym, and also how much time you want to spend at the gym.
What’s our favourite? Personally, I prefer 3-4 days. The downside is that I will have to spend longer at the gym, but the huge upside is I have more time to myself and more rest days between workout days. Meaning I can fully recover and also have time to socialise.
Remember, you don’t have to stick to one gym split forever. You can mix and match and cater for the week you have coming up. For Example, if you know you are going to be having a busy week, why not cut it down to a 3-day gym split? Or if you have more do a 5 or a 6-day workout routine. All depends on how you live, what you like and how much time you have.
What is your gym split? What schedule do you do? Do you have a preferred Workout routine? Let us know over on our Instagram here. Also remember, if you are after the perfect workout application then download our workout app for iOS here.
Written by Kieran Blacker
Kieran is the CEO and Founder of Sets & Reps. He decided to make an application that helped people get a gym workout when not at the gym. He designed, Coded and built the application himself.