Top 3 Workout Splits for Muscle Growth (science-based)

A good workout split should accomplish two things: first, it should train each muscle group with adequate frequency to result in muscle growth. Second, it should allow your muscles to recover between sessions.

You see, a good workout split must have a good balance of training and recovery, which is why most people gravitate toward pre-built workout splits like the ones touted by bodybuilders and fitness influencers.

But the truth is, there is no “best split” – if there was, we’d all be doing it.

What’s important is that you find a workout split you enjoy, that fits your goals and lifestyle, and in turn, this will help you stay consistent with your workouts.

That said, there are some tried and true workout splits that tic all of the boxes and will fit most people’s goals and lifestyle. So if you’re not sure how to split your training for optimal results in the gym, then listen up…because I am going to narrow it down to the top 3 workout splits for muscle growth so you can make an informed decision and walk into the gym confident that you’re following a solid plan.

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References

[bigpicturegains]

Almost every reasonable split or method will give results provided your nutrition is adequate, you get enough sleep, and you are not overtraining, allowing for recovery. Key is to be consistent, it takes time to progress and years to start standing out from the crowd.

[bobster]

Been weight training for over 50 yrs and at 68 having tried over the years so many routines and of course falling into the trap of doing too much, I recommend to you a three day week which hits each body part twice a week. That way you get the gains you deserve. Here is an example, and it leaves your weekends free.. Monday lower body, Wednesday Upper and Friday full body. Key as always is training hard and progressing. Remember you gain muscle when you rest, not when you break it down too much. Good luck!

[abelajr]

I did bro split for a long time, but now i switched to upper lower 4days/week, i feel great and bigger and stronger 👍

[cflingo]

I've done and like all 3 approaches. I like to rotate through all 3 throughout the year changing things up about every 12 weeks. For me it keeps things fresh and allows for a greater utilization of different accessory lifts.

[strengthedgefitness]

Great video. As a soon to be 37 year old lifter with 10+ years experience, less is more at this stage. 3 full body workouts a week, that each focus on 1 or 2 main barbell lifts. I've had more time for family obligations, and made great strength and size gains, too. It's all about finding what works best for you at that given time!

[me]

I do upper/middle/lower. I have to separate the abs, lower back, and obliques for the purposes of my sports. Stability is extremely crucial for what I do, so I try to dedicate a full day to training my core.

[cambajax]

Love the video. The main thing for me is: Keep it entertaining. I did Push, Pull, Legs for a long time and started to slack a little. I switched to Arnold split doing Shoulder & Arms, Chest & Back and Legs. My strength went up but more importantly my motivation was back.

So whatever someone chooses it has to be maintainable and you should enjoy what you're doing.

[indigoblue]

For someone with only 3 trainingdays a week, full body ssems the way to go...thanks for this in depth description of the pros and cons for every concept!

[boabedsama]

I do push pull legs upper lower … a 5 day split that really matched my day to day routine

[chandlermichaels]

A 4 day Body part Split is still going to be the best option for most people. Long as it's programmed properly. Set it up similar to an Upper Lower and your good to go. Let me show you an example.

DAY 1: Chest -Upper
DAY 2: Legs- Lower
DAY 3: REST
DAY 4: Shoulders- Upper
DAY 5: Back- Lower

You can add in an arm day if you want or just add Triceps to the Chest and Shoulders day and Biceps to the legs and Back day.

[artwha]

Love this channel.. so much great advice and perfect delivery

[HardRockMiner]

The Bro Split has never steered me wrong, and I've been doing it FOREVER.

[ivareskesner]

Push-pull-legs has been repeatedly shown as the most effective split if the goal is muscle hypertrophy. Full body sessions simply aren't able to provide sufficient intensity for those who have been training longer than eight months or so.

At that point you will inevitably have to dedicate more time to each muscle if you want it to keep growing. And the only way to do that is to train less muscles. Enter push, pull, legs.

After a certain time of doing the PPL split, some people decide to keep going and maybe even illicit the help of a bit of juice in order to continue muscle hypertrophy. At that point the only way to increase intensity is to now dedicate an entire training session to a single muscle. The problem here is that only those on the juice can really use this split effectively because they don't need rest days. Everybody else will simply be leaving too long a time between training a muscle because by training only one muscle at a time, it can only be trained around once a week. Which is a suboptimal frequency of training becausethe muscles grow and then shrink again in that time.

So we come back to PPL. A split that allows pretty much everybody to continue making optimal gains if they are clever about it and keep mixing their sessions up with drop sets, mechanical drop sets, super sets, giant sets, pyramid and reverse pyramid weight stacking, half/full reps etc.

[corenko]

Best split? I gotchu

International chest day
Juicy arm pump
Chest again
Skip legs
Biceps
Triceps
Rest

[criticalthinker]

The way you combine knowledge with comedy is genius. New sub!

[orlando]

A better split torso day 1 then limb day 2, then fullbody day 3

[AK_.]

I find recovery on a PPL recovery is a major issue and I can only train 3x a week. So I do a hybrid of upper/lower/upper (week 1). Lower/upper/lower (week 2). If it gets crazy, I do upper/lower/full body.

[maikjansen]

I allways trained 3x FB or 6x PPL for the last 10 years, alternating about every 6 months. However, since spring this year I train 3x PPL and 1 xFB a week, was a total gamechanger for me, the perfect mix of heavy compound lifts and focusing on every musclegroup without being so fatigue like a 6x PPL

[AdamScottfit]

Great video. I'm a big fan of a Push, pull, upper, legs split for myself personally - allows me to focus on my chest (lagging body park) that bit more.

[lawrenceoneill]

I find a full body workout tends to maintain my muscle exactly where I am like it plateaus because I’m not pushing any particular muscle trying to get say 20 different sets of exercises