Training Split Examples

Obviously there are many options available when deciding which muscle groups to train and on which days. A bit of planning and experimentation is definitely required to maximize muscle recovery time. It is important to realize that growth occurs during rest and not while training - despite the 6-7 day per week routines used by some professional bodybuilders (most of those guys are both very genetically gifted and chemically enhanced). Usually 3-4 intense weight lifting sessions per week is plenty and it should be noted that the entire body doesn't necessarily have to be trained in a seven day week. For example, an effective routine could be training three days every week with 1-2 days between workouts and a training split of four 30-45 minute workouts would take 9-10 days to train the entire body. Alternatively, the same four day training split could be carried out with four workouts per week - both are very effective options. Below are some examples of four day training splits.


Workout #1

• Chest, Upper Back (for thickness), Biceps
• Quads, Calves
• Shoulders, Upper Back (for width), Triceps
• Lower Back/Hamstrings, Abs, Forearms

Workout #2

• Quads, Calves
• Shoulders, Abs, Forearms
• Upper Back, Lower Back/Hamstrings, Biceps
• Chest, Triceps

Workout #3

• Quads, Calves
• Chest, Shoulders, Abs
• Upper Back, Lower Back/Hamstrings
• Biceps, Triceps, Forearms