Masheen

Planning a week

Split

Also called workout split, training split, split routine, gym split

A split is the way a training week is divided up: which muscles or movements you train on which day.

UpperMonLowerTueWedPushThuPullFriLegsSatSun
Sunday: rest. 5 training days so far. A five-day week: upper, lower, rest, push, pull, legs, rest. Five sessions, and each muscle trained about twice.

In plain words

When a lifter asks "what's your split?", they are asking how your week is laid out. The split decides which day each muscle or movement gets. Four layouts are common: full body (everything, every session), upper / lower (upper body one day, lower the next), push pull legs (pushing muscles, pulling muscles, then legs), and a body-part split (one area a day: chest, back, shoulders, legs, arms). A split is a scheduling choice. A 2024 systematic review with meta-analysis of 14 studies and 392 people compared split routines with full-body routines and found similar gains in strength and muscle size when the total volume was equal; its authors conclude people can choose by preference.

An example

Take a five-day week: upper on Monday, lower on Tuesday, rest Wednesday, then push, pull and legs to finish. Five sessions in all. Because the upper day and the push and pull days overlap, your chest, back, shoulders and arms each get worked about twice, and so do your legs.

Often confused with

Full body workout A full body week trains everything in each session; a split divides the body across different days.
Push pull legs Push pull legs is a split with three kinds of day: one for the muscles that push, one for the ones that pull, and one for the legs.
Upper lower split An upper lower split divides training into two kinds of day: upper-body days and lower-body days, taking turns through the week.
Full body workout A full body workout trains every major muscle group in one session: at the least the legs, a push and a pull.
Body-part split A body-part split is a training week that gives each session to one area of the body, so each muscle is trained once a week.
Frequency Frequency is how often you train in a week: either how many sessions you do, or how many times each muscle gets trained.

Go deeper

Beginner strength programs compared Starting Strength, StrongLifts 5×5, GZCLP and 5/3/1 for Beginners in one table. Days, lifts, sets and reps, how the weight goes up, and what to do on a miss. Updated

Sources

  1. Ramos-Campo et al. 2024. Efficacy of split versus full-body resistance training on strength and muscle growth. J Strength Cond Res 38(7):1330–1340 Read

Updated . How these pages are researched and corrected: editorial policy. Every term in the glossary.