A six-day workout split is a training schedule in which you divide your workouts over six days of the week, with each day focusing on a different muscle group or training goal. This structured approach to training allows you to rest adequately while maximizing gains across the board.
The best split depends on your training level, but a Push/Pull/Legs/Upper (or Lower) split works well for most people. This split ensures you hit each muscle group twice per week while allowing recovery and muscle growth. Pair this with progressive overload, high-protein meals, and good sleep for optimal results.
6 repetitions of a compound exercise at a heavy weight. 12 repetitions of an accessory exercise at a moderation. 25 repetitions of an accessory exercise at a light weight. The workout is intense because of the high number of repetitions and short rest.
This is a 6-Day per week program with each bodypart being worked twice. It is has one heavy workout focused on basic, compound exercises and one light workout with more isolation exercises and true supersets. All of the repetitions are in the hypertrophy range between 6-15 reps.
Not everyone can sustain a 6-day workout routine because it depends on factors like your fitness level and overall health. For beginners, jumping into such an intense schedule may lead to overtraining, fatigue, or injury due to insufficient recovery time.
He follows an 8-day Push-Pull-Legs training split, which usually looks something like the following: Day 1: Legs: Quad dominant. Day 2: Push Day: Chest, with a little bit of triceps. Day 3: Pull Day: Back, with a little bit of biceps.
Want to grow your muscles as big as possible? Just go for the tried and proven classic, right? 4 sets of 12 reps, four or five exercises muscle group.
Hypertrophy. If your aim is hypertrophy (to build muscle), the sweet spot is 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps.
The squat, bench press, and deadlift reign supreme, earning their place as the Big 3.
The push/pull/legs split is probably the most efficient workout split there is because all related muscle groups are trained together in the same workout. This means that you get the maximum overlap of movements within the same workout, and the muscle groups being trained get an overall benefit from this overlap.
When the training goal is muscular hypertrophy, the combination of moderate-intensity sets with short rest intervals of 30-60 seconds might be most effective due to greater acute levels of growth hormone during such workouts.
The Upper/Lower Split Maximizes Hypertrophy
This is best explained by the fact that splitting lower- and upper-body sessions allows for more training. With two workouts per muscle each week, you can include more sets, reps, and weight. This increased volume is always better for hypertrophy than a lower training volume.
Everything from your classic “bro split” to even training twice a day, Arnold did it. However, one of his favorite workout splits has been dubbed the Arnold split.
Many fitness enthusiasts and advanced bodybuilders favor the PPL split because it allows them to target specific muscle groups with greater intensity and volume per muscle group than a full-body workout. It also provides adequate recovery time for each muscle group.
A low repetition scheme with heavy loads (from 1 to 5 repetitions per set with 80% to 100% of 1-repetition maximum (1RM)) optimizes strength increases. A moderate repetition scheme with moderate loads (from 8 to 12 repetitions per set with 60% to 80% of 1RM) optimizes hypertrophic gains.
The best hypertrophy results came from 30-40 sets per muscle per week. A minimum effective dose of 4 sets per muscle group per week. Somewhere around 10-20 sets per week still delivered good hypertrophy results.
The Bottom Line. Plan workouts with heavy sets at the start of your session and early in the week. Follow heavy sets with lighter, higher-rep work for hypertrophy, performance and injury prevention. Use extra rest days after lighter sessions to recover for the next heavy training block.
The best exercise for hypertrophy is the back squat. By training low bar and high bar together huge muscular gains can be achieved. Think about Olympic weightlifters. They have huge quads and huge glutes from all the myofibrillar hypertrophy they achieve from their training.
Implementation of training with moderate number of repetitions (~6−12), multiple sets (3−6), moderate loads (60−80% 1RM), and short rest intervals (60 s) between sets elicits greater metabolic stress (in contrast with high-loads), which appears to be a potent stimulus for inducing muscle hypertrophy [57].
Studies like those by Grgic et al. (2018) suggest that training frequency is crucial for maximizing hypertrophy . A 6-day split offers the most volume, making it excellent for lifters with advanced recovery protocols.
The Arnold split is a six-day workout split in which you train the chest and back, shoulders and arms, and legs twice per week. It's a muscle-building program that's designed to help you increase muscle mass and improve your physique. Because of its high amount of volume, it's only for advanced lifters.
The program follows a 5-day split, focusing on different muscle groups each day with dedicated chest, back, shoulder, and arm workouts. This split ensures balanced and symmetrical muscle growth, combined with sufficient rest days for recovery.