If you’ve done bodybuilding for any length of time, then you’ve no doubt wondered what the best bodybuilder workout split routines are. It can be hard to figure out which program is right for you as the internet is chock full of contradictory opinions. In this article I’m going to cover my top 5 best bodybuilder workout split routines. I’ll also be covering some of the latest research on what makes a muscle building workout program truly effective. Keep reading for more.
As a coach, I’m often asked my opinion on various training split routines. Most athletes are looking for me to confirm that the workout method they prefer is a good one. The real answer is it’s a little more complex than determining if a 4 day split routine is better than a 6 day split routine. To really answer this question we need to quickly review what actually causes your muscle to grow.
The Science of Muscle Growth
If you’ve read any of my other articles on hypertrophy, or building muscle mass you’ll be familiar with the three primary drivers of muscle growth. Here’ is a quick excerpt from a great research article by Dr. Brad Schoenfeld.
It is hypothesized that 3 primary factors are responsible for initiating the hypertrophic response to resistance exercise: mechanical tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress (38,79,153,185). The following is an overview of each of these factors.
The Mechanisms of Muscle Hypertrophy and Their Application to Resistance Training
That research article covers just about everything you need to know about building muscle. It includes a review of the biology of muscle cells, the importance of hormones like testosterone, and the particulars of weight training that actually cause muscle to change.
Said simply, muscles grow because they’re stressed when a load is applied to them. Heavy loads generate a lot of mechanical tension, which your muscles respond to by initiating signals for growth. Similarly, a lot of mechanical tension will yield muscle damage, that must be repaired. This also stimulates growth.
Lastly, your muscle cells experience a lot of metabolic stress when they’re used in the gym. They must use energy, in the form of ATP, to power muscle contractions. They also must get rid of the waste by-products of this chemical reaction. This process becomes stressful when repeated over and over. This can also cause muscle growth.
The question we need to ask ourselves is what bodybuilding split routine would best optimize these three primary drivers of muscle growth? This is actually an easier question to answer than you might think.
Best Bodybuilder Workout Split Routines for Max Growth
Research is fairly clear on this point. The program that will maximize your personal muscle growth, is the program with the highest training volume you can withstand, over a sustained period. Of course, you must use reasonably challenging rep ranges, with enough weight to stimulate mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage on training days.
In this research study, the authors had two different groups of athletes complete the same training program, with either a single body part each session, or a total body session each day. They reported that there was no statistical difference in strength or muscle mass improvement amongst these two groups.
I would note that the daily full-body workouts group did actually gain more strength in the back squat, and bench press. They also gained more muscle mass. It just happened that this was not statistically significant. I imagine if they had more participants they might have found a statistically significant difference. Let’s look at another study. Before we do that, don’t forget to join the email list below.
Bodybuilder Workout Split: 4 Day Split vs. 6 Day Split
This research study on Elite bodybuilders compared 4 day splits to 6 day splits. This was an awesome four week study where they actually had nutritionists plan the participants food intake. This is something you rarely see in bodybuilding research.
They concluded that there was no appreciable difference between training 4 or 6 days per week. I will note that strength training numbers seemed to favor the 6 day per week group, even if that wasn’t statistically significant. Again, I imagine if they had more research subjects this would help us establish this relationship.
Volume is Driving Muscle Mass
In further research, it seems clear that the real driver of hypertrophy for skeletal muscle, is the total amount of volume the athlete is able to recover from. Notice I saw able to recover from, not able to do. Here’s a quick infographic that covers the ideal amount of volume for both your quads and biceps.
We’ve all done monster workouts that have left us sore for a week. This kind of huge volume training is great, every once in a while, but it isn’t sustainable over the long haul. Sustainability of your program is a key factor for your ability to build muscle mass.
You can see in the infographics that both major muscle groups only need around 40-60 hard reps per session. Ideally, you should engage in 2-3 sessions per week, for each of the different muscle groups. Remember from the previous research that this body part split isn’t inherently better, it simply allows you to do more overall volume, that you can recover from.
Keys to Finding Your Best Bodybuilder Split Routines
In my experience as a coach, finding a compatible program, that works with your tolerance for volume, life schedule, and overall gym goals is key to finding success. I could give you an awesome 6 day upper lower split program, with AM and PM workouts. It might actually make your current fitness worse, if you can’t recover from it.
I have no scientific evidence for this statement, but I’ve found that most athletes do very well with 4-5 day split routines. This workout schedule allows you to hit each muscle group at least twice per week, which closely aligns with the research recommendations for number of training sessions.
I do have several 6-day split programs, but those should be left for advanced athletes that want an unreasonable amount of fitness and muscle mass. Even then I think 6 day per week programs are best for a few months at a time.
In the next section I will list several different popular bodybuilding programs. I’ll differentiate them by how many consecutive days per week you’re in the gym. I will certainly give you an overview of each of the 5 programs, but I recommend following the links to see all the details. Now let’s get to my top 5 best bodybuilder workout split routines.
My Top 5 Best Bodybuilder Workout Split Routines
If you’ve seen any of my other programs, you’ll know that I tend to write functional fitness, and hybrid programs. I do have a few pure bodybuilding programs, and each program is unique. Make sure you pay attention to the program goals to see which plan is best for you.
It’s also important to point out that some of these programs include free extras like PDF downloads, or nutrition calculators. Follow the links to the program page, to see which is the best workout split for you. Now, let’s get to the programs!
8 Week Functional Bodybuilding Hybrid Program (4 Day Split)
The 8 Week Functional Bodybuilding Hybrid Program is by far my most popular program. At this point I think several thousand athletes have done this program, with great results. I also recommend this for folks that want a little more than the standard bodybuilding workout routine.
This program is a 4 day per week split that alternates between upper body and lower body. There are two primary movements on each day, secondary movements, and accessory work that compliments the more traditional lifts. The last portion of each training session is a functional fitness WOD.
Recall that metabolic stress is one of the three primary drivers of muscle growth. There is no better way to create metabolic stress than a functional fitness workout. In this program, I’ve made sure that it compliments the lifting you’ve already done.
While this program certainly isn’t easy, I’ve found that most athletes do very well with 4 hard days in the gym and 3 rest days. Because this is one of my premium programs, I’ve included much more information like percentages in the full version. You can check that out below. The good news is that you can try many weeks of this program for free, to see if it’s a good fit.
In the next section we’ll talk about my most popular pure bodybuilding program. You won’t find any cardio or WODs in sight!
12 Week Free Bodybuilding Program (5 Day Split)
The 12 Week Free BodybuildingProgram is for athletes that want to focus on building pure muscle mass, to the exclusion of all else. It’s a lot of total volume for each session. If you count carefully, you’ll notice that you’re still within the recommended volume guidelines for each muscle group.
You will be in the gym 5 days per week, and you’ll have two rest days. In my experience it takes most athletes about 70 minutes or so to complete a session. This depends on how long you rest between sets of course!
This program is designed to be done in any commercial gym, or a well appointed home gym. The majority of the movements are free weights, but I’ve included a few machine movements as well. Some things just can’t be done with barbells and dumbbells!
This program does include a free PDF, so make sure you follow the program link to see all the info. The next workout routine is another great option for those that want a challenging functional fitness bodybuilding program.
7 Week Free Functional Bodybuilding Program (5 Day Split)
The 7 Week Free Functional Bodybuilding Program is a very challenging 5-day split routine. It’s appropriate for experienced intermediate and advanced bodybuilders. Just like my other functional bodybuilding routines, this program has a good deal of work for the larger and smaller specific muscle groups for each session.
In this workout plan, I’ve grouped opposite muscle groups on each day, and used the WOD to compliment these movements. You can see that session 2 is a leg day, with back squats, and Romanian Deadlifts. The accessory work continues to focus on the quads and hamstrings, with the WOD being a full body workout that hammers the core.
This program also has a free PDF download, which many folks find convenient. Moreover, most athletes find that this works best with 5 days of scheduled work, and two days of rest over the weekend. However, you can modify the program to work with your schedule as you see fit.
Next, we’ll cover an interesting 4 day split program that can be an 8 way split program, if you’re brave enough to try it!
8 Week Hybrid Hypertrophy Program (4 Day Split)
The 8 Week Hybrid Hypertrophy Program is a 4 day split program that allows you to string together 8 sessions in a row, if you feel up to it. I actually wrote this program for athletes that can do a lot of work in the gym, but have inconsistent schedules.
Many tactical athletes have to balance their need to improve their fitness with the realities of deployments, and call outs. This program easily flexes around a busy schedule, and is designed to improve muscle mass as well as conditioning. I would also expect some improvement in overall strength too.
Each cycle is three days of lifting plus a WOD. The last day is a Zone 2 cardio day. If you don’t know what that is, then you need to follow the link, because you’re definitely missing out on fitness gains and even strength gains.
You then have the option of immediately starting the next cycle, or taking a rest day. If you’re used to high volume training then you’ll probably be doing two cycles before taking a rest day, however you can rest as needed. Just keep doing the program in sequential order.
Next we’ll talk about a program that’s designed for bodybuilders who really need to work on their endurance! If you want to try my most popular strength training hybrid program, then this is for you.
8 Week Hybrid Bodybuilding and Endurance Plan (5 Day Split)
The 8 Week Hybrid Bodybuilding and Endurance Plan is designed to build muscle and hammer your aerobic energy system. If you need to work on your conditioning this is your best option, as long as you’re not scared of cardio.
This plan has you doing three cardio sessions each week, in addition to your lifting. More astute readers will notice that there are no WODs or METCONs. This is pure lifting and pure conditioning. Take a look below.
On the days that you have lifting and Zone 2 cardio, those are best done in an AM and PM session. You could mash those together in a pinch, but it will definitely affect how much muscle mass you can build.
The research on hybrid training is pretty clear. Ideally you should separate lifting from cardio by 3-4 hours or more. If you can’t do so, you should lift first then do cardio, not the other way around. In the next section I’m going to cover some general recommendations for these bodybuilder workout split programs, so you can get the most out of them.
Programming Tips for Best Results
My best tip for those looking for a program is to try the easiest split routine that you can. If you want to build muscle and some functional fitness, then try a 4 day split training routine first. It’s always better to start with a program you can excel in, then one you dread doing every day.
Smart athletes only do enough work in the gym to promote muscle growth, and that’s it. Leave the more difficult 5 and 6 day routines for later down the line when you need a real ass kicker of a program to keep progressing towards your specific goals.
I don’t recommend adding in extra work. I often receive messages asking if an athlete can combine x program with y conditioning, for extra gains. The answer is almost always, “I wouldn’t recommend it.” In fact, that’s the best way to burn out in a week!
I spend a lot of time writing these programs to make sure that you receive the right amount of stress each week. Progressive overload needs to be planned out, not an accident! Now let’s get to my final thoughts on the best bodybuilder workout split routines.
Final Thoughts
I highly encourage you to look to a different style of programming than you normally do. If you’re a traditional lifter and then you’ll probably find a functional fitness hybrid program can kick start your muscle building.
For experienced athletes, it’s best to spend time away from your traditional training methods. Those were good enough to get you where you are today, but they must change so that you can keep progressing.
If you have any comments or questions about any of these different bodybuilding split routines, let me know in the comments section. I’ll do my best to get you an answer. Now get out there and get training. Don’t forget to join the email list below.
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