Best 5 Day Workout Splits For Muscle Growth & Fat Loss

Here are 9 different 5 day workout splits that you can use to build your dream physique!

I have been working out for close to a decade and I’ve tried more training splits than I can count. In this article I’ll be showing you some different 5 day workout programs that I have created. 

5 day workout splits are in my opinion the most effective routines for building muscle and losing fat. You get a lot of training volume and enough time to rest and recover between workouts. 

These 5 day workout programs are made to work for everyone, regardless of your gym experience. If you are a beginner at the gym and need some guidance, or if you’ve been doing the same workout split for a while and want to change things up.

Here are the 9 best 5 day workout splits for every circumstance: 

1. Best Overall – 5 Day Upper/Lower Push/Pull/Legs Workout Split
2. Best For Muscle Growth – 5 Day Full Body Workout Split
3. Best For Females – 5 Day Upper/Lower Full Body Workout Split
4. Best For Beginners – 5 Day Push/Pull/Legs Full Body Workout Split
5. Best For Weight Loss – 5 Day Body Toning Workout Split
6. Best For Athletes – 5 Day Hybrid Workout Split
7. Best For Strength And Bulking – 5 Day 5×5 Compound Split
8. Best For Home Gym – 5 Day Dumbbell Workout Split
9. 5 Day Bro Split Workout Split

Keep reading to see the workout splits. Later on in the article I’ll also provide some more useful info about the programs!

#1 Best Overall – 5 Day Upper/Lower Push/Pull/Legs Workout Split

Weekly schedule

Workouts

Upper body:

Lower body:

Push day:

Pull day:

Leg day:

Breakdown Of The Upper/Lower PPL Workout Split

Notes:

If I could choose only one workout split for the rest of my life it would be this one!

The 5 day Upper/Lower PPL workout split is the best training program for working out each muscle group twice a week. You get a very balanced training program with a good amount of volume.

It is also a great workout split for developing your legs. This split is the best option for you if your legs are lagging behind your other muscle groups.

#2 Best For Muscle Growth – 5 Day Full Body Workout Split

Weekly schedule

Workouts

Full body A:

Full body B:

Full body C:

Full body D:

Full body E:

Breakdown Of The Full Body Workout Split

Notes:

The 5 day full body workout split can be very demanding. You don’t get a lot of recovery time before it’s time to train the same muscles again.

You will need to have a good diet and get enough sleep if you plan on following this workout program. I would not really suggest this split for beginners.

This split is better suited for intermediate and experienced lifters with a dialed-in diet and sleep schedule.

All in all this workout program is well-balanced between all the muscle groups.

#3 Best For Females – 5 Day Upper/Lower Full Body Workout Split

Weekly schedule

Workouts

Upper body A:

Lower body A:

Upper body B: 

Lower body B:

Full body:

Breakdown Of The Upper/Lower And Full Body Workout Split

Notes:

The upper/lower and full body workout split is perfect if you want to focus on training your legs. You get a balanced training program with 3 leg workouts every week. 

The training program puts a large emphasis on glute training to help build a stronger posterior chain.

A strong posterior chain helps maintain a good posture and is also important for stability in many other weightlifting exercises. 

Glute training is often overlooked by many. Weak glutes can cause back pain and knee problems since other muscles in your body need to overcompensate for the lack of strength in the glutes.

#4 Best For Beginners – 5 Day Push/Pull/Legs Full Body Workout Split

Weekly schedule

Workouts

Push:

Pull:

Legs:

Full body A:

Full body B:

Breakdown Of The PPL And Full Body Workout Split

Notes:

The 5 day PPL and full body workout split is a great option for beginners. You get a balanced training volume for all muscle groups.

When you are a beginner it’s easy to neglect training the muscle groups that are tedious to train.

But following this training program ensures that you train all muscle groups adequately and effectively.

This ensures that you get the most out of your “noob-gains” and gives you a great base to keep building on!

#5 Best For Weight Loss – 5 Day Body Toning Workout Split

Weekly schedule

Workouts

Bodypump A (full body):

Bodypump B (full body):

Bodypump C (full body):

Bodypump D (full body):

Bodypump E (full body):

Breakdown Of The Body Toning Workout Spilt

Notes:

The body sculpting workout routine combines cardio and weightlifting. This workout program is the smartest way to lose weight!

HERE’S WHY!

The workout program is packed with functional weightlifting exercises such as weighted sled pushes and farmers’ walks. 

These exercises will build muscle mass while also burning more calories than regular weightlifting exercises would.

This means that you maximize your time in the gym since you won’t have to worry about doing cardio separately.

Increasing your muscle mass will also force your body to burn more energy (calories) to maintain the muscle you have built. 

#6 Best For Athletes – 5 Day Hybrid Workout Split

Weekly schedule

Workouts

Strength:

Explosiveness:

Stability:

Mobility:

Prehab:

Breakdown Of The Athlete’s Hybrid Workout Split

As a former soccer player I know how important strength, mobility and explosiveness are when playing competitive sports.

I made this training program for you who want to improve your performance and excel in your sport. It is the perfect 5 day training split for athletes.

The hybrid workout split combines strength training with explosiveness and balance training. And of course, a prehab workout to prevent injuries!

It is packed with exercises that will give you an edge on the field. Being both stronger and faster than your opponent will honestly make you unstoppable.

#7 Best For Strength And Bulking – 5 Day 5×5 Compound Split

Weekly schedule

Workouts

Compound A:

Compound B:

Compound C:

Compound D:

Compound E:

Breakdown Of The 5×5 Compound Workout Split

Notes:

This training program focuses on the main compound lifts; Squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press and barbell rows.

The 5×5 workout program is great for building strength while also having a lot of training volume.

When doing the compound lifts in the 5×5 training split you should aim to do about 80% of your 1RM (1 rep max) for the 5 reps and sets.

All muscle groups are balanced and trained sufficiently in this training split, which makes it a good alternative if you want to combine powerlifting and bodybuilding.

#8 Best For Home Gym – 5 Day Dumbbell Workout Split

Weekly schedule

Workouts

Upper body dumbbell:

Lower body dumbbell:

Push dumbbell:

Pull dumbbell:

Legs dumbbell:

Breakdown Of The Dumbbell Home Workout Split

Notes:

The dumbbell workout routine is perfect if you want to work out at home. Everything you need is a bench and a set of adjustable dumbbells.

You get a good balance between all the muscle groups. And with only a set of dumbbells and a workout bench I can’t imagine a simpler and more optimized training program for working out at home.

#9 The 5 Day Bro Split Workout Split

Weekly schedule

Workouts

Back:

Chest:

Legs & abs:

Shoulders:

Arms:

Breakdown Of The Bro Split Workout Split

Notes: 

The infamous bro split is infamous for a reason, it works really well, and why change a winning concept? 

This workout split is arm and shoulder heavy and a bit leg deficient in comparison. But it’s the bro split after all, what else could you expect? 

Jokes aside, you still train all muscle groups sufficiently with the 5 day bro split. It’s a very easy split to follow and adjust to your preferences and needs. 

The 5 day bro split can also be a good option if you are a beginner. It’s also really motivating to go to the gym when you get to train a lot of the fun stuff (biceps and triceps).

How Are These 5 Day Workout Splits Structured?

All workouts in the programs begin with compound movements. It’s best to do these lifts  

at the beginning of the workout when you have the most energy.

Compound lifts are the heaviest and most demanding. You want to have as much energy as possible when doing them in order to perform them optimally and get the best results. 

The compound exercises have the highest strength and muscle-building potential.

They are great for overloading your muscles and are the most bang for your buck exercises in the gym. 

Overloading means that you expose your muscle to a weight that they aren’t used to. This forces your body to adapt to that weight by building more muscle.

Overloading your muscles is the most effective way to build muscle and progress in the gym.

The second half of the workouts are accessory exercises and isolation movements. These exercises target specific muscles and are generally less time-consuming and strenuous. 

Isolation exercises target specific muscles and the weights that you use are usually lighter.

This means that you won’t overload the muscle as much. But you can still build muscle with isolation exercises. A key aspect of these movements is to improve your mind-muscle connection.

The mind-muscle connection is essentially how well you can contract and activate muscle fibers in the muscles you are working out.

You can overload your muscles more effectively when doing compound exercises if you have a good mind-muscle connection. This will lead to more hypertrophy (muscle growth).

How Many Sets And Reps Should You Do Per Muscle Group Every Week?

10-25 sets per muscle group per week is optimal for hypertrophy (muscle growth) according to the latest literature. 

That is a pretty wide range and all muscle groups don’t need the same amount of volume for optimal growth. 

To make it easier you can think that the set range depends on the size of each muscle group. 

This means that your arm and shoulder muscles don’t need to be trained as much as your larger leg, chest and back muscles. 

10-15 sets of arms and shoulders are enough, while your legs, chest and back need closer to 15-25 sets per week.

The upper limit of the optimal set range is pretty vague. But doing more than 25 sets per muscle group per week would be too time-consuming for what it accomplishes.

The amount of reps you do per set isn’t super important. But doing over 30 reps per set is excessive, and doing 2 reps is not enough either. 

A general rule of thumb that I use is to do 8-15 reps on 70-80 % of your max for each exercise. 

How Long Should You Rest Between Sets?

30-90 seconds of rest is usually enough between sets. You don’t need to count exactly how long you rest. Just go when you feel ready for the next set.

As a general guideline, about 60-90 seconds of rest is good for compound exercises. Your muscles need more time to recover after doing heavy sets. 

30-60 seconds should be enough for isolation exercises as small muscles will recover faster between sets.

How Many Times Should You Train Each Muscle Group Per Week?

Most people tell you that you need to train each muscle group at least two times a week to get the best results, but this isn’t necessarily true.

The literature on this subject has changed a lot lately, and it seems that the most important factor for muscle hypertrophy is the training volume (sets/week). 

You can basically train each body part as many times as you want in a week as long as you hit the 10-25 sets/week goal for each muscle group. 

And this works great for a 5 day workout program. 

You can for instance do the push/pull/legs split and hit every muscle group only once a week, or the full body split and hit each muscle group 3 times a week. 

I’ve made sure that if you will hit the 10-25 set range when you follow these workout programs.  

How Long Will The Workouts Take?

I rarely spend more than 90 minutes in the gym, and you can finish these programs within this time frame.

The workouts can take even less time if you implement supersets.

Supersets are when you do two exercises simultaneously. For example alternating between doing seated dumbbell press and dumbbell lateral raises.

You effectively get two exercises done at once as you skip the rest period in between sets.

This is also another way to overload your muscles since you basically train them nonstop for maybe 6-8 sets.

How Long Do You Need To Recover?

This mainly depends on factors outside of the gym such as nutrition and sleep. 

Generally smaller muscle groups such as arms and shoulders will recover in about 24-48 hours (1-2 days). 

Larger muscle groups such as legs and back can take up to 72-96 hours (3-4 days) to recover fully. 

You can decrease these times with the right nutrition and sleep protocols. 

Eat enough protein (1 gram/pound of body weight) to help rebuild muscle. Eat enough carbohydrates to refill glycogen stores in the muscle. And eat enough fats to have normal hormone levels.

Getting your vitamins and minerals is also important, and you should aim for 8 hours of sleep. 

This is especially important if you plan on doing a 5 day full body workout split. Since you only get about 48 hours of rest until the next full-body workout.

Benefits Of 5 Day Workout Splits

5 day workout splits are very effective for building both muscle and strength. 

Working out 5 days a week gives you the chance to train each muscle group several times every week. This means that you can distribute your 10-25 sets/muscle group over several workouts. 

Doing fewer sets and exercises per workout is less time-consuming. This will make working out feel more convenient and it will be easier to stick to your workout plan.

Plus, doing fewer sets per workout will make recovery a bit quicker. So even though 5 day workout splits only give you 2 days off, you’ll still be able to recover between workouts.

You can program a 5 day workout routine in many different ways to adapt them to your lifting experience and training level. 

Using different 5 day workout splits offers a lot of variation to your training which is important for progress.

Having a lot of different workout plans at your disposal will make the muscle-building progress easier. You can have a rotation of programs that you can switch between to avoid plateauing.   

How Long Should I Follow A 5 Day Workout Program?

At least 8-12 weeks. After 4-6 months it can be a good idea to switch up your routine for optimal progress. 

When you stick to the same split for too long you usually get less muscle soreness after workouts and your strength gains might slow down significantly. 

This is called “plateauing”. It happens to everyone at some point and basically means that your muscles have adapted to the exercises and workload you expose them to.

Switching to a new workout program is a good way to break out of a plateau. New workouts and exercises will expose your muscles to new stimuli which result in muscle growth. 

You can also switch between exercises in your workout program to avoid plateauing too early. For instance you can do pull-downs one week and pull-ups the following week.

How Long Until I See Results From A 5 Day Workout Split?

After 8-12 weeks you will see some strength gains and some muscle development.

The progress will be faster if you are a beginner. These are the famous “noob gains” and usually last for about 6-12 months. 

During that time you make a lot of progress fairly quickly. Eventually it slows down and you might start thinking that you are doing something wrong.

But you are not!

Building muscles takes a LOT of time! Don’t be discouraged if you don’t think that you are making enough progress.

It takes many years until you’ve built a good physique. It took me almost 5 years to realize that I had actually put on a lot of muscle.

It’s easy to be overly critical of your own physique. Seeing yourself in the mirror every day makes it easy to think that you aren’t making any progress.

But take a picture of yourself now and compare yourself to that picture again a year or two later. That’s when you realize how much progress you’ve actually made.

Being the one who sticks to it and doesn’t give up is what’s going to differentiate you from most other people. Just enjoy the process.

Are 5 Day Workout Splits Good For YOU?

5 day workout splits work great for mostly everyone! They are often suited better for intermediate and experienced lifters in my opinion.

Jumping straight into a 5 day workout split can be a bit hard for beginners.

First of all.

The muscle soreness that you will have in the beginning is going to be pretty brutal. 

You might not be able to work out more than a couple of days a week due to muscle soreness. That’s why a 3 day workout split might be better for beginners.

Secondly.

Working out 5 times a week can feel a bit overwhelming for beginners. It’s easy to get unmotivated if you force yourself to go to the gym almost every day.

This is a big reason to why most people who start going to the gym end up quitting after a couple of months.

Start out slow with a 3 or 4 or even a 2 day workout split. You’ll be more motivated to go to the gym if you take it easy in the beginning.

After following a 3 day workout split for a while it’ll almost feel like a reward to go to the gym 5 days a week instead.

But if you feel up for a challenge and can hold yourself accountable 5 day workouts splits of course work very well for beginners as well!

How Do 5 Day Workout Splits Compare To Other Workout Splits?

People always argue if a 3, 4 or 5 day split is better for building muscle.

And the simple answer is that all of them work. As long as you do at least 10 sets/week per muscle group, preferably closer to 15-25 sets/week for maximal muscle growth. 

5 day vs 3 and 4 day workout split

Working out 5 days a week instead of 3 or 4 days means that you can have fewer exercises per workout and still get the same amount of sets per week.

On the other hand, it can be more difficult to fit in 5 workouts every week if you have a busy schedule outside the gym. 

5 day vs 6 day workout split

Working out 5 days a week can be easier to fit into a schedule than a 6 day workout split. 

The workouts might be a bit longer if you want to fit in the same amounts of sets per week. But you get a bit more recovery time with a 5 day workout split than with a 6 day split.

Both of these options require that you have a balanced diet and a good sleep schedule. It will help you recover optimally and avoid overtraining.

Adjusting The 5 Day Workout Programs

The exercises that I have chosen in the program are my personal preference, I’ve also adapted them a bit to suit everyone. But I figured I could give you some examples of how you can modify the program to fit your experience level.

Adjusting The Programs For Beginners

If you are just starting out in the gym some of the exercises in the training programs I’ve shown might seem a bit daunting. Exercises like pull-ups and dips also require a lot of strength and technique.

BUT DON’T WORRY! 

Pretty much all of the exercises in the programs have machine alternatives. Machines have a fixed range of motion and you won’t have to worry about stability and handling weights that your muscles and ligaments aren’t used to yet.

When you have built up some strength you can move on to the free weights. You’ll notice that your stability improves very fast. As you progress you will be able to perform the exercises better but choose a weight that you can manage, ego lifting won’t take you far.

Adjusting The Programs For Intermediate And Advanced Lifters

Personally I like to implement drop sets and supersets into my workouts, you’re probably using them in your workouts already, but here are some interesting ones you might want to try out.

1. Superset incline dumbbell curls with seated dumbbell curls: Set the bench to a 30 or 45-degree angle. Do your first set leaning backward and when you are done sit upright and continue with the superset. 

You can usually go a bit heavier when you are upright, I’ve also found that alternating bicep curls work better for me than doing them simultaneously as I can really focus on one bicep at a time. 

2. Drop-set Bulgarian split squats: I prefer doing Bulgarian split squats with kettlebells over a barbell since you’ll have a lower center of gravity while holding kettlebells. This also makes it easier to do drop sets.

Drop-setting Bulgarian split squats might be the most painful exercise in the gym but the results are insane! If you are really crazy you can even do a triple or quadruple drop-set, but then you might have to call in sick to work the next day.

3. Superset skullcrushers with bench press: After finishing your set of skullcrushers, bring the bar or dumbbells over your chest and start repping out the bench press until failure. You can do this for all 3 sets if you want.

4. Extra tip: You can finish the last set of all your exercises with a drop-set just for fun!

What Supplements Should You Consider For A 5 Day Workout Split?

Supplements can be a great way to get more out of your training. They aren’t essential but if you are serious about your training they can be worth considering.

Pre-Workout 

Pre-workout is without a doubt my favorite supplement. It allows you to train harder, get a better pump and improve your focus.

These effects will allow you to plow through the workouts. You get the energy to do a few more sets and lift a bit heavier. This will result in more muscle growth in the long run.

I could go on forever about pre-workouts, so make sure to read my article about the best pre-workouts here to find out everything you need to know!

Protein Powder

Having enough protein in your diet is very important for muscle growth and recovery.

After a heavy workout your body will need to repair the micro-damage in your muscle fibers. Your body does this with the help of amino acids which are the building blocks of proteins.

This is the process that results in muscle growth. Your body rebuilds your muscles a bit larger and stronger in order to endure the load you place on them.

Read my protein powder guide to learn more and find the best protein supplements for you.

Creatine

Creatine is one of the most popular and by far the most researched workout supplement. 

And for good reason!

Your body uses creatine to create ATP which is a vital energy source. And ATP is your body’s first choice for creating energy during sudden explosive exercise.

When exercising your body will deplete its ATP stores within 3-8 seconds. But supplementing with creatine increases the ATP levels enough to last a few more seconds.

This will allow you to do a few more reps with heavier weight. Exposing your muscles to this extra load will result in more hypertrophy (muscle growth) over time.

But creatine has SO many other benefits for your training and health, make sure to read my article about creatine to find out more about its amazing benefits! 

What To Do Next?

Try these 5 day splits out for yourself and unlock some new gains, but until it’s time to hit the gym again here are some more articles you should read: 

• 2 day workout split
• 3 day workout split
• 4 day workout split
• 6 day workout split