5-Day Workout Split: A Complete Weekly Plan With Sets and Reps

5 min read

A strong 5-day workout split is push, pull, legs, then upper and lower. You train Monday to Friday and rest the weekend, hitting most muscles twice a week. Use 5 to 6 exercises per session at 3 to 4 sets, keeping the first lift heavier and the rest at 8 to 12 reps.

Five days a week is a big commitment, so the split needs to be worth it. The layout below combines a push, pull and legs block with an upper and lower block. It gives every major muscle two sessions a week without the overlap that makes many five-day plans grind you down.

Who a 5-day split is for

This plan suits people with at least six months to a year of consistent training who enjoy being in the gym and can recover from it. Five sessions means more total work per muscle, which helps if progress on three or four days has slowed down.

It is not a shortcut for beginners. If you are new, or your sleep and schedule are unpredictable, three or four days will get you just as far with less burnout. You can always move up later.

The weekly schedule

Training Monday to Friday with the weekend off is the simplest layout. If you prefer a break midweek, do push, pull and legs on Monday to Wednesday, rest Thursday, then upper and lower on Friday and Saturday.

▸Monday: Push (chest, shoulders, triceps)
▸Tuesday: Pull (back, rear shoulders, biceps)
▸Wednesday: Legs (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves)
▸Thursday: Upper (moderate, all upper muscles)
▸Friday: Lower (moderate, all lower muscles)
▸Saturday and Sunday: Rest

Push, pull and legs days

These are your heavier days. Rest 2 to 3 minutes after sets of the first lift and 60 to 90 seconds on the rest. Stop each set with one or two reps left on the big lifts.

Push: bench press 4 sets of 5 to 8, seated dumbbell overhead press 3 sets of 8 to 10, incline dumbbell press 3 sets of 10, lateral raises 3 sets of 12 to 15, and triceps pushdowns 3 sets of 10 to 12.

Pull: deadlift 3 sets of 5, pull-ups or lat pulldown 3 sets of 6 to 10, barbell row 3 sets of 8, face pulls 3 sets of 15, and barbell or dumbbell curls 3 sets of 10. Legs: back squat 4 sets of 5 to 8, Romanian deadlift 3 sets of 8 to 10, leg press 3 sets of 10 to 12, leg curl 3 sets of 12, and standing calf raises 4 sets of 12 to 15.

Why this layout beats five separate muscle days

Many five-day plans give each muscle its own day: chest Monday, back Tuesday and so on. The problem is that each muscle then waits a full week between sessions, and the single session gets so long that the last exercises are junk volume.

This plan avoids that. Chest, for example, is trained heavy on Monday and again with lighter, higher-rep work on Thursday. Legs get a heavy day Wednesday and a volume day Friday. Each session stays focused, and no muscle goes more than four days without work.

It also spreads joint stress. Your shoulders get two pressing days a week, not three or four, with rest in between.

Upper and lower days

The last two days hit everything again with different exercises and higher reps. Think of them as volume days. The weights are lighter, the pump is bigger, and rest is 60 to 90 seconds throughout.

▸Upper: incline bench press 3x8 to 10, chest-supported row 3x10, machine or dumbbell shoulder press 3x10 to 12, cable fly 2x12 to 15, hammer curls and overhead triceps extensions 2x12 each
▸Lower: front squat or hack squat 3x8 to 10, hip thrust 3x10, walking lunges 3x10 per leg, leg extension 2x15, seated calf raise 3x15, hanging knee raises 3x12

Managing recovery on five days

Recovery is where five-day plans succeed or fail. Sleep seven to nine hours where you can, eat enough protein, around 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg of body weight per day if building muscle is the goal, and do not turn every set into an all-out grind.

Watch for warning signs: lifts going backward two weeks in a row, joints aching, dreading every session. When that happens, take a lighter week with half the sets, then return. Planning one every six to eight weeks is smarter than waiting to need it. If you have an injury or a health condition, check with a qualified professional before raising your training load.

Progressing and tracking the plan

Give each exercise a rep range and add weight once you hit the top of it on every set. Small jumps are fine. Over a few months they add up to a lot.

If you want this layout without building it by hand, SSS Workout Assistant uses the same push, pull, legs, upper, lower split when you choose five days a week, and it tracks your sets, reps and weights with progress charts and an estimated one-rep max, so you can see whether the extra day is paying off.

FAQ

Is a 5-day split better than 4 days?

Only if you recover well and enjoy the extra session. Five days allows more total work per muscle, but four well-run days give most people very similar results. Choose the one you can keep up for months.

What about a bro split with one muscle per day?

A chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs split trains each muscle once a week. It works, but most people grow better hitting each muscle twice a week, which this push, pull, legs, upper, lower plan does.

Can I do cardio on a 5-day split?

Yes. Add two or three sessions of 20 to 30 minutes of easy cardio, like brisk walking or cycling, on rest days or after upper days. Keep hard intervals away from the day before legs.

How long should each session take?

Plan on 50 to 70 minutes including warm-up. If you are short on time, cut one accessory exercise rather than rushing your rest on the main lift.

Can I do this plan with only dumbbells?

Mostly, yes. Swap barbell lifts for dumbbell versions, such as goblet squats, dumbbell Romanian deadlifts and one-arm rows, and use slower lowering phases if your dumbbells are light.

Put it into practice

SSS Workout Assistant turns these principles into a free weekly routine built around you — then tracks every set and reminds you to train so you actually keep it.

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