A workout split is how you divide the week: which muscles or movement patterns you train on which day. It decides how often each muscle gets trained, how long each session runs, and how well the plan survives a busy week. There are only a handful of splits worth knowing, and the right one for you comes down almost entirely to how many days you can train. This page explains every workout split, compares them side by side, and links to the complete guide and routine for each.
What a workout split actually changes#
Muscle growth is driven by hard sets per muscle per week — for most lifters somewhere in the 10–20 range — taken close to failure and progressed over time. The split does not change that number; it changes how the sets are distributed. Two things follow from that.
First, frequency. Training a muscle twice a week lets you split its weekly volume into two fresh sessions instead of one long one, and the evidence modestly favours it over once a week. Every good split for four or more days is built to deliver that. Second, session length. The more days you train, the fewer muscles each session has to cover, and the shorter and more focused it can be. That is the real reason to add days — not because more days build more muscle by themselves.
Every workout split explained#
Full body#
Every session trains the whole body: a squat or hinge, a press, a pull, and a little accessory work. Run two or three times a week. This is the right split for beginners and for anyone training three days or fewer, because it keeps frequency high on the lifts that matter most. The 3-day workout split guide has the complete routine, and the 2-day version covers the minimum effective dose.
Upper lower#
The body is split in two: upper sessions train chest, back, shoulders, and arms; lower sessions train quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Run four days a week as upper, lower, upper, lower, every muscle is trained twice in sessions that stay under an hour. It is the default four-day split and the one with the fewest ways to go wrong. Full guide and routine: the upper lower split.
Push pull legs#
The body is split by movement pattern into three: push (chest, shoulders, triceps), pull (back, rear delts, biceps), and legs. Run once a week for a three-day split with once-weekly frequency, or twice a week for the classic six-day PPL with every muscle trained twice. The six-day version is the most popular split in gyms and the highest-volume structure most natural lifters can recover from. Full guide and routine: the push pull legs split.
PPLUL and ULPPL#
The five-day hybrids. One push pull legs rotation plus an upper lower pair gives every muscle two sessions a week in five fixed days. PPLUL runs push, pull, legs first and finishes with upper and lower; ULPPL starts with a heavy upper lower pair and finishes with push, pull, legs. Same sessions, different order — PPLUL for physique focus, ULPPL for lifters who want the big barbell lifts trained fresh.
Arnold split#
Three sessions run twice a week: chest and back together, shoulders and arms together, legs alone. Like six-day PPL it trains everything twice, but it pairs chest and back as antagonists and gives shoulders and arms their own day with fresh elbows. The cost is a lot of pressing volume across the week. Full guide and routine: the Arnold split.
Bro split#
One muscle group per day — typically chest, back, shoulders, legs, arms — so each muscle is trained once a week. It builds muscle, but for the same weekly volume it is the least efficient structure here, because useful volume in a single session caps out around 8–10 hard sets and there is no second session to carry the rest. The bro split guide covers the honest case for it and four fixes that make it work far better.
Power / hypertrophy splits#
Upper lower structures with a twist: two days heavy, two or three days high-volume. PHUL is the four-day version; PHAT adds a fifth day and speed work. Both are for intermediates who want strength and size in the same week — as is the powerbuilding program.
Workout splits compared#
| Split | Days / week | Sessions per muscle | Session length | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full body | 2–3 | 2–3 | 60–75 min | Beginners, anyone on three days or fewer |
| Upper lower | 4 | 2 | 50–65 min | Most lifters on four days |
| PPLUL / ULPPL | 5 | 2 | 45–75 min | Intermediates with five fixed days |
| Push pull legs ×2 | 6 | 2 | 50–70 min | High volume, six days available |
| Arnold split ×2 | 6 | 2 | 60–80 min | Arm and shoulder priority, healthy shoulders |
| Bro split | 5 | 1 | 45–60 min | Lifters who love single-muscle days |
| PHUL / PHAT | 4–5 | 2 | 60–90 min | Strength and size together |
How to pick a workout split#
Count the days you will actually train — not the days you would like to — and pick the split built for that number. Every row below trains each muscle twice a week except the three-day PPL, which is why it is not the first recommendation for three days.
| Days you can train | Run this | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Full body ×2 | 2-day workout split |
| 3 | Full body ×3, or upper / lower / full | 3-day workout split |
| 4 | Upper lower | 4-day workout split |
| 5 | PPLUL or ULPPL | 5-day workout split |
| 6 | Push pull legs ×2, or Arnold ×2 | 6-day workout split |
The day-by-day guides — 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 days — each compare the two or three structures that make sense for that number and give complete routines. If you are still unsure whether to split at all, full body vs split lays out the decision. Women looking for a lower-body-biased version of these structures will find them in workout splits for women.
Two rules that matter more than the split#
Progress the lifts. A split is a container for progressive overload, and none of them work if the weights are the same in month three as in month one. Pick rep ranges, log every set, and add reps then weight. Gript shows your previous numbers next to every set and flags when you have topped out a range, so beating last session takes zero memory work.
Stay on it. Run a split for at least 8–12 weeks before judging it. Switch when your schedule changes or a weak point needs more direct work — not because the routine feels familiar. Familiar is what progression looks like.