Workout splits explained

Before you grab your favourite gym t-shirt and hit the weights in the gym, you must be familiar with gym splits. You must know what split you will follow and work on for the next 8-12 weeks, at least. With a workout split, you will be able to manage your workouts to fit your needs and goals. You will have a structure for when you go to the gym by knowing which muscle group you must train and how you will train it. Having a gym split is important because you do not want to go to the gym, do random workouts with random weights, and have no routine and call it a good day. In this article I will explain to you what a gym split is, what some of the most popular gym splits are, and which splits are likely to suit you.

What is a workout split?

So, what is a gym split? To put it simply, a gym split is a way of organizing and structuring your workouts throughout the week to train each muscle effectively, allow each muscle to recover before training it again, and, most importantly, train all the muscles in your body to make sure no muscle is lagging behind.

When looking into gym splits, you will often be overwhelmed by the number of different ones there are out there, and it will be hard for to choose the best one for you. After reading this article, you will have a clear understanding of what the different splits are and which ones you should be going for.

The different workout splits

1 - Push Pull Legs (PPL)

Now let’s talk about some of the most popular splits there are. Starting off with, arguably, the most famous split, the Push-Pull-Legs (PPL) split. This split is known and very common amongst all bodybuilders, especially the beginners who are just getting into the gym. The PPL split consists of 3 days.

Day 1: Push (Chest, Triceps, and Shoulders)

Day 2: Pull (Back and biceps)

Day 3: Legs (Quads, Hamstrings, and Calves)

The PPL split can have different structures based on your experience in the gym. For example, if you are a:

• Beginner: It is best to train one day and then rest for a day. So basically, your schedule will look like this: push, rest, pull, rest, legs, rest, and repeat. This way you will allow yourself to ease your way into things and not get injured.
• Intermediate: You should train for 3 days, then rest, then train for 3 days, then rest, and repeat. Your training schedule will look like this: push, pull, legs, rest, push, pull, legs, rest, and repeat.
• Advanced: You will typically go for 6 days of training and then 1 rest day and repeat. The schedule will be: push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs, rest, and repeat.

To make sure that you stay consistent and do not get bored of the split, you will want to switch up the exercises for the muscle groups every time you train them. For example, on push days, do not do the exact same exercises for chest, triceps, and shoulders every time you have a push day. Switch up the exercises and the order of things. Find whatever suits you and whatever you feel like you enjoy most, because don’t forget, you want to maintain longevity.

2 – The Bro Split

The next split, one that is quite popular in the gym industry, is the bro split. The bro split is a different split that solely focuses on each muscle group individually during each session. This means that each session, you will only train one muscle group. For example, your training schedule could look like this:

• Monday: Chest
• Tuesday: Back
• Wednesday: Legs
• Thursday: Arms
• Friday: Shoulders

Because you are only focusing on one muscle group each session, there will be a lot of volume per session. This means you will do a lot of exercises and sets for the muscle group because you are only training it once a week.

The bro split is definitely a controversial split in the gym industry; however, at the end of the day, you choose what works best for you and for your lifestyle. I will highlight some of the pros and cons of the bro split, and from there, you can make up your mind.

Some of the pros of the bro split include:

• It allows you to put all your focus on one muscle group each session because of the high volume that you apply to it. You can hit all the different parts of the muscle.
• It gives enough recovery time for every muscle, as each muscle is only trained once a week. This will allow the muscles to fully repair before being hit again. This will ensure the best performance for the muscle group and therefore result in hypertrophy.
• Since you are only training one muscle group, the intensity can be high, and you don’t have to worry about “preserving” your energy for any other muscle.

On the other hand, there are some cons too, and these include:

• It is not time efficient. If you are someone who can only train 3-4 times a week, the bro split will not work for you, because it requires at least 5 days of training to hit all the muscle groups.
• It is not the best split for beginners, as there is a lot of volume daily, which may lead to injuries because there is too much load and intensity, and this is not beneficial for the beginners.

3 - The Upper-Lower Split

Moving onto the upper-lower split. This split is very beginner friendly, and a lot of people often use it every now and then, whether they are beginners, intermediates, or even advanced lifters. It's very straightforward: one day you will train upper body muscles which consist of chest, back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps, and on the next day, you will train lower body muscles which consist of quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. The number of days that you will train per week will vary depending on how experienced you are in the gym. For example, if you are a beginner, your training schedule might look like this:

Upper, rest, lower, rest, upper, rest…

If you are an intermediate lifter, your schedule might look like this:

Upper, lower, rest, upper, lower, rest…

If you are an advanced lifter, your schedule might look like this:

Upper, lower, upper, lower, upper, lower, rest, and repeat

4 - The Arnold Split

The Arnold split is named after the bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is usually a 6-day split. Every day you will train 2 muscles. The days are as follows:

• Day 1: Chest and back
• Day 2: Shoulders and arms
• Day 3: Legs
• Day 4: Chest and back
• Day 5: Shoulders and arms
• Day 6: Legs
• Day 7: Rest

It is a high-volume, high-frequency split. It has its pros and cons.

The pros of the Arnold Split include:

• High volume: pushes each muscle to its limits every workout.
• High frequency: each muscle gets hit twice a week, so it ensures consistent stimulation, which results in growth.

The cons of the Arnold Split include:

• Time-consuming: It is a 6-day split, so it requires a lot of time and commitment, which could be hard for some people.
• Not beginner friendly

Which split should you go for?

After learning about all these splits (that’s just some of them), you are probably asking yourself, Which split should I go for? Here is the answer. If you are a:

• Beginner: The best splits to go for would be either push-pull-legs or upper-lower.
• Intermediate: The best splits to go for would be push-pull-legs, upper-lower, or the bro split.
• Advanced: You can go for any split that you would like. 

It is also important to point out that your level of experience in the gym is not the only deciding factor, but the goal that you have is also important to consider when choosing the split.

Make sure that whatever split that you choose, you stick to it for a while. Ideally, you want to follow a split for at least 12 weeks. This way, you give yourself enough time to see the results of the split and for you to know how you feel about it. If you enjoy it, you can continue with it, or you can switch to another split. It is important to try different splits and see which ones you like and which ones you don’t. See which bring you the best results and best suit your lifestyle. Every now and then, I recommend changing the split and trying something new to avoid getting bored and things becoming repetitive.

To finish things off

Before grabbing your preferred gym t-shirt out of your men’s gym tops collection and heading to the gym, make sure you have a clear split in mind that you’re going to do and make sure you stick to it long enough. Don’t judge too quickly and give it time to show you its results and effect. Always be open to trying new and different splits, because you never know where the perfect one lies. You might find your current split good for you, but once you try a new one, everything changes.