Treino ABC is how Brazil organises the training week. Instead of naming sessions after movement patterns, gyms label them A, B, and C and rotate through them: A is chest and triceps, B is back and biceps, C is legs and shoulders. It is the same idea as a three-way split anywhere else, but the naming convention and the standard muscle pairings are specific enough to be worth learning on their own terms. This guide covers the divisions, what belongs in each day, and how to run the rotation on three or six days a week.
What treino ABC means#
A, B, and C are simply the three workouts in the rotation. You run them in order and start again — the letters travel with you rather than being pinned to weekdays. The near-universal Brazilian convention is:
- A — chest and triceps (peito e tríceps): pressing and the muscles that assist it.
- B — back and biceps (costas e bíceps): pulling and the muscles that assist it.
- C — legs and shoulders (pernas e ombros): everything the first two days did not cover.
The logic is antagonist grouping by assistance: triceps are already working on every press, so training them after chest means they recover on the same schedule. Split into four or five letters — ABCD, ABCDE — and the divisions narrow further, with shoulders or arms getting their own day. That is the Brazilian route to a bro split, with the same trade-offs.
The ABC divisions#
| Variation | Weekly pattern | Frequency per muscle |
|---|---|---|
| ABC 3×/week | A, B, C on alternating days | Once per week |
| ABC 2× (ABCABC) | A, B, C, A, B, C in six days | Twice per week |
| ABC + rest rotation | A, B, C, rest, repeat continuously | Roughly twice every eight days |
The difference matters more than the letters do. On the three-day version each muscle is trained once every seven days — workable, but the least effective frequency available. The six-day ABCABC version trains everything twice a week, which is where most hypertrophy research lands. If you can only train three days, a full body structure will usually beat a three-day ABC.
The complete ABC routine#
Rest 2–3 minutes on compounds and 60–90 seconds on isolation work, and take working sets within 1–3 reps of failure. On the six-day version, run the second rotation with different angles and higher reps rather than repeating the first exactly.
Workout A – Chest and triceps#
| Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|
| Bench press (barbell) | 4 × 6–10 |
| Incline dumbbell press | 3 × 8–12 |
| Chest press (machine) | 3 × 10–15 |
| Cable crossover | 3 × 12–20 |
| Close-grip bench press | 3 × 8–12 |
| Triceps pushdown (cable) | 3 × 10–15 |
Workout B – Back and biceps#
| Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|
| Pull-up or lat pulldown | 4 × 6–10 |
| Bent-over row (barbell) | 4 × 6–10 |
| Seated cable row | 3 × 10–15 |
| One-arm dumbbell row | 3 × 10–12 |
| Barbell curl | 3 × 8–12 |
| Hammer curl (dumbbell) | 3 × 10–15 |
Workout C – Legs and shoulders#
| Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|
| Back squat (barbell) | 4 × 6–10 |
| Leg press | 3 × 10–15 |
| Romanian deadlift (barbell) | 3 × 8–12 |
| Lying leg curl | 3 × 10–15 |
| Overhead press (dumbbell) | 4 × 8–12 |
| Lateral raise (dumbbell) | 4 × 12–20 |
| Standing calf raise | 4 × 10–15 |
Workout C is the heaviest of the three, which is why the shoulder work sits at the end and stays in higher rep ranges. If your gym is busy and legs plus shoulders runs past 75 minutes, move the lateral raises to workout A.
How to progress#
Use double progression: each exercise has a rep range, you add reps at a fixed weight until you reach the top of the range on every set, then add weight and restart at the bottom. Squatting 4 × 6 at 100 kg becomes 4 × 8, 4 × 10, then 105 kg for 4 × 6.
Because the ABC rotation does not line up with the calendar week, track the rotation rather than the weekday. Save A, B, and C as three routines in Gript and the app will show your last numbers for whichever letter you open — the progressive overload guide covers what to do when one lift stops moving.
Common mistakes#
- Running ABC on three days and expecting split-level results. Once-weekly frequency is the limit of that version. Either go to six days or run full body.
- Overloading workout A. Chest day is everyone's favourite and it shows: ten exercises for chest, four for legs. Keep the days balanced and check the totals with the training volume calculator.
- Splitting into ABCDE too early. More letters means less frequency per muscle unless you add days. Four or five divisions only make sense at five or six sessions a week.
- Never changing the routine. The same three sheets for two years is the most common Brazilian gym-floor mistake. Rotate exercises every 8–12 weeks while keeping the movement patterns.
Treino ABC is a solid, flexible structure — the same three-way logic used everywhere, with pairings that make sense. Get the frequency right for the number of days you train, keep the three days balanced, and log every session.