The Ultimate 5 Day Workout Split Training Program

The 5 day workout split means the bro split.

Not push pull legs,

And Not upper/lower,

Think frequency and add intensity!

You will train the muscle group 1 time a week.

If you wish, you could train smaller muscle groups twice.

The Pros and Cons of the 5 day workout Split

Here are some of the positives and negatives of the 5 day workout split. 

The pros of the 5 day Workout Split:

  • Good for hypertrophy.
  • Good for weight loss (frequency is key).
  • A combination of compound and isolation movements (though more isolations included).
  • Adequate recovery for beginners and intermediate lifters.

The cons of the 5 day Workout Split:

The Best 5 Day Workout Split Program

Here is a complete program for the 5 day workout split. 

Chest:

Exercise

Sets

Reps

Rest (Mins.)

Flat Bench Press (dumbbells or barbell - alternate everyother workout)

5 (2 warmup, 3 working sets)

15 - 6

2-5

Incline Bench Press (dumbbells or barbell - alternate everyother workout)

4

12 - 8

2-5

Weighted dips or Decline bench press (alternate every other workout)

4

12 - 8

2-3

Dumbbell or machine flyes

4

15-10

1 - 3

Cable crossover

4

15-10

1 - 2

2 Ab exercises of your choice

3 each

30-15

1 - 2

Shoulders:

Exercise

Sets

Reps

Rest (Mins.)

Delt rear raises (dumbbell, cable, or reverse pec-deck)

5

25-12

1 - 3

Delt side raises with dumbbells

4

15 - 10

2 - 3

Delt side raises with cables or machine

4

15 - 10

1 - 3

Standing up-right rows with cable or barbell

3

15 - 12

1 - 3

Machine or dumbbell shoulder presses

4

15 - 8

2 - 4

Front delt raises with dumbbells or barbell

3

15 - 10

1 - 3

Shrugs - barbbell or dumbbells

5

20-8

1 - 3

Back:

Exercise

Sets

Reps

Rest (Mins.)

Wide grip lat pulldown or pull-ups

5

15 -8

2 - 4

Barbell rows

4

12 - 8

2 - 5

Dumbbell rows or T-bar rows (alternate every other workout)

4

15 - 8

2 - 5

Cable rows

4

15 - 8

1 - 4

Narrow grip lat pulldown

4

15 - 10

1 - 3

Below the knee barbell deadlifts (quarter deadlifts)

4

12-8

2 - 5

2 calf exercises of your choise

4 each

25-15

1 - 2

Arms:

Exercise

Sets

Reps

Rest (Mins.)

Triceps cable push down

5

15 - 10

1 - 3

Standing tricep cable extension with the rope

4

15 - 8

1 - 3

Lying skull crusher (EZ barbell or dumbbells)

4

12 - 8

1 - 4

Kickbacks (dumbbells or cable)

4

15 - 10

1 - 3

Bicep dumbbell curls

5

15 - 8

1 - 3

Bicep barbell curls

4

15 - 8

1 - 4

Bicep concentration/preacher curls (machine, dumbells, or barbell)

4

15 - 8

1 - 3

Bicep hammer curls (dumbbels)

4

15 - 8

1 - 3

2 Ab exercises of your choice

3 each

30-15

1 - 2

Legs:

Exercise

Sets

Reps

Rest (Mins.)

Hamstring curls

5

15 - 10

1 - 4

Barbell squat

4

15 - 8

2 - 5

Leg presses

4

20 - 10

1 - 5

Hack squat or Stiff deadlift for hamstrings (alternate every other workout)

4

15 - 8

2 - 5

Leg extension

4

15 - 10

1 - 3

Walking lunges or Hip thrust

4

15 - 10

2 - 5

2 calf exercises of your choise

4 each

25-15

1 - 2

Adjust the volume if it’s too much. You could also add on some intensity by including supersets, cluster sets, or drop sets.

Experiment, pick, and choose. 

A few tips to make the 5 day workout Split work for you.

  • Start with quads and back after the rest day because they are large muscle groups and require a lot of energy and mental focus.
  • Have a separate day for hamstrings and glutes if your legs are weak.

The schedule should look like this:

week

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Split

Legs

Chest & Biceps

Delts & Triceps

Off

Back

Glutes

Off

  • Instead, you could have the days off after the legs and back workout if you need more time for recovery, as shown in this schedule:

week

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Split

Chest

Delts

Back

Off

Arms

Legs

Off

  • If your arms and/or delts are weak points, increase their frequency by adding one or two exercises after the chest, delts, and/or arms day. 

In this case, the schedule should look like this:

week

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Split

Chest & Biceps

Delts & Triceps

Back

Off

Arms & Delts (side and rear)

Legs

Off

Finally, and as you saw in the 5 day workout split program above, stick to the basic exercises, and keep it simple.

No need for swinging exercises or Mr. AthleneW (where w stands for weirdo) hula hoop exercises. Â