The Question:
You often hear that 3-5 days per week in the gym will help you achieve any of your goals. Well, with time on your hands and goals to achieve it’s time for a 5-day split.
What is the best 5-day workout split?
Are 5-day splits better for training muscles once per week or twice?
Are 5-day splits more or less effective than 3-day splits?
Who would benefit the most by using this type of training? The least?
Show off your knowledge to the world!
Five day splits are among one of the most common splits used among bodybuilders these days. Not only does it allow for proper recovery in each muscle group, it allows the trainee to work at a much higher intensity since each muscle group is only trained once a week.
1st Workout
A typical split would be like this:
- Day 1: Legs/Abs
- Day 2: Chest
- Day 3: Back/Abs*
- Day 4: Rest
- Day 5: Shoulder/Abs*
- Day 6: Arms
- Day 7: Rest
*Additional abdominal training days are optional.
Note: The reasons for prescribing those muscle groups in that order are as follow: For most trainees, training the lower body is probably the most taxing for their bodies. Therefore it is crucial to train it first in the beginning of each week to ensure that the workout is done while the body is still fresh.Instead of training five days in a row, it is also beneficial to rest in between training days to allow the Central Nervous System to get proper recovery. This is especially important for new trainees because their bodies are not primed to be able to work at a high intensity five days in a row yet.Lastly, it’s more optimal to space shoulder and arm days as far as possible from chest day to allow the joints and triceps to recover properly.For each day, trainees should use 4-5 exercises with two main exercises and 2-3 accessory exercises.
2nd Workout
The other option to consider is a 5-day workout split that has been found to be great in terms of recovery/strength/size. Try spreading your back and leg day apart as much as youcan so you can have complete recovery for both exercises.
- Day 1: Chest/abs
- Day 2: Back
- Day 3: Off
- Day 4: Shoulders/abs
- Day 5: Legs
- Day 6: Arms/abs
- Day 7: Off
On every lift the sets are 3-4. On power movements (Squat, Deadlift, Heavy Presses that hit the slow twitch muscle group), I keep the reps low and usually do 4×6, 3×8, or 10,8,6. Every other lift vary the sets from 12,10,8 to 3×12 to 3×8. I like to total around 12-15 total sets per body part.
It is key to switch up the rep scheme to keep your body guessing and to avoid plateaus and over training.
3rd Workout
A third and very good option to consider would be hitting the starting the week with Back exercises. Why? Starting with the Back on Monday will give your Triceps and extra day to rest and recover before exercising your Chest. This exercise routine takes into consideration the Triceps are being involved in all bench pressing motions.
- Day 1: Back/Abs
- Day 2: Chest
- Day 3: Legs/Abs
- Day 4: Rest
- Day 5: Shoulders/Abs
- Day 6: Arms*
- Day 7: Off
*SuperSet the Arms the first 6 sets