How to Use Split Training (and win the muscle building game)
This article is for anyone who wants to learn how to win the muscle building game.
You do not get your best results by going to the gym 3 days a week. You do not get your best results by doing 15-20 minute straight-set workouts. You do not get your best results by doing one of those “focus only on the compound movements” 5*5 workouts. You do not get the best results by following the infamous alternating upper/lower routine that your average Joe mindlessly follows at your local Planet Fitness.
And you certainly do not get your best results by looking for an easy way out. That’s not how competitors think.
You get your best results by lifting weights like an animal and by following a game plan. I do not care what nerdy scientific study someone has to show me.
My goal has always been to get as big and ripped as possible while maintaining overall balance. That is how I have done it for 8 years while still remaining natural. That is how I will teach it. Today, I am going to discuss how to use split training and win the muscle building game.
The game plan that most enables your physique goal is SPLIT TRAINING.
I do not care what your “ideal physique” is. If you want to achieve a bodybuilder’s physique… split training is the way to go. If you aspire to have your physique look more like Hugh Jackman’s in the Wolverine movies… split training is the way to go. If you want to just look like an athletic guy who is in shape… split training is the way to go.
Split training is exactly what it sounds like. You are splitting up your workouts by focusing on all the individual body parts over the course of a week. Full body workout sessions can give you a good workout, but there simply is not enough specified volume applied to each muscle to produce long term muscle growth.
When I first started going to the gym, I wanted to get jacked. That was my goal. But I understand that not everyone has this goal. Most people don’t want to look like the Incredible Hulk. A lot of people would rather look like Brad Pitt in Troy or Hugh Jackman in Wolverine. Ironically, those are 2 physiques that were built with aide of PED’s but whatever.
The confusion people have is thinking that they should avoid typical bodybuilding workouts (split training) because it prevents them from working toward that goal. As a result, many people will try to do the bare minimum by focusing heavily on cardio and maybe throwing in some weight training. Nonsense.
Lifting weights helps you build muscle and lose fat. It will make you look and feel stronger. Again, I’ve never quite understood why guys want to come up with all these excuses not to do something so awesome with so many benefits. If your goal is lean and athletic, lifting heavy weights will help you get there faster.
Think of your physique in terms of 11 body parts that all need to be hit.
Back
Traps
Chest
Quads
Hamstrings
Bi’s
Tri’s
Forearms
Abs
Shoulders
Calves
It’s very simple. You hit everything once a week. The only exception would be abs, forearms, and calves. You can hit them multiple times per week. You could also consider hitting a weak body part multiple times per week. Just remember not to work it on consecutive days.
How do you set up your splits and choose when to work certain body parts?
My suggestion is to keep it simple. Do a simple Monday through Friday split where you are hitting each body part once per week. Take the weekends off.
Creating your ideal physique is hard work. It is a job. Unlike your typical white collar slave labor situation, this is a job that you should absolutely sell your soul to.
In the interest of keeping things simple, you might as well follow a typical Monday through Friday schedule. When you are done with school or work for the day, you can go workout to unwind.
As far as the splits themselves are concerned, do what makes sense. It makes sense to train the larger body parts first. These require the most effort and energy exertion on your part.
For instance, if I wanted to train chest, I wouldn’t train my shoulders or triceps before that. If I wanted to train back, I wouldn’t train my forearms before that.
Also you should not train certain body parts on the same or consecutive days.
Here are some examples of poor split scheduling (Avoid these)
You should not train chest and shoulders on the same day (or even consecutive days). Sure, you might get a good chest workout. But if you trained chest with intensity, by the time you would get to shoulders your delts (particularly front delts) would be fried.
You should not train back and biceps on the same day (at least not in the beginning). Your biceps are heavily recruited in the pulling movements for back. If you are not particularly strong or experienced, these will not have any gas left if you decide to hit them after back.
You should not train legs immediately after back day. You need to have a full tank of gas and bring it on leg day. If you hammer back the day before, you will be sore and your lower back might be tight. Having a tight lower by the time you do your first set of squats is no bueno. Do yourself a favor and space those days out.
You should not start off the week training arms. Why start off the week fresh and waste it training small body parts like that? C’mon.
Here is my recommended IDEAL SPLIT:
Monday: Back, Traps, Abs
Tuesday: Chest, Calves
Wednesday: Triceps, Biceps, Forearms
Thursday: Quads, Hamstrings
Friday: Shoulders, Calves, Abs
Boom there you go. The perfect split. All 11 body parts are hit. And fatigue on one body part should not impact the next days’ workout.
Everyone trains chest on Monday. It’s annoying. So don’t train it on Monday. Hit back instead. After back, hit traps. Traps are your upper back muscles. It only makes sense to train them on back day. *** It’s common for people to train them on shoulder day too. It just makes more sense to me train them on back day.
Also this help your chest workouts for the following day because you lats will still have a bit of a pump to them and you will have subjected yourself to an intense workout of primarily pulling movements the day before.
Explosive pressing movements for your chest are just a lot more natural the following day. Next day is arm day. You could conceivably train biceps before triceps. It’s a matter of preference. Save forearms for last (unless you have years of experience and want to prioritize them).
On Thursday, you can train legs. Your lower back should be good to go since back day was on Monday. On Friday, you can wrap up the week by hammer shoulders. Your front delts should be fresh since the last time they were worked was on Chest Day.
That’s the game plan. That’s how you win the muscle building game… by using consistent split training and subjecting yourself to high intensity workouts over a period of time.
Days turn to weeks. Weeks turn to months. Months turn to years. That’s my story. That’s how I’ve been winning for 8 years and counting…
Sonny
71 Comments
Are you going to go into amount of sets, rep range, etc…?
Over time I’m going to go into everything about everything with all this stuff. Don’t worry.
Hey man, did you ever manage to write an article on reps and sets, etc?
I discuss this in Of Tyrants & Tellers has well as the various workout programs we have for sale.
Keep it up sonny ! Motivated me to get to the gym.
Thanks dude!
hey, can you send a quick link to a good program for your split, or an example of yours of each bodypart for beginners? Do you consider fullbody workouts a no-no then, I’m newbie and natural.
I’m on the fence with how I would approach training a newbie…. Depends on what you base level of athleticism is. If are naturally fit/athletic I wouldn’t have a problem starting you off on a split routine. If not, then I think full body might be the way to go just so you learn your body.
Check out my very first post. It goes a little bit into what my mentality/game plan was when I first started lifting in 2006.
https://strengthbysonny.com/the-1-rule-for-long-term-bodybuilding-success/
I’ve checked it out, dosen’t give me too much info regarding how I should train though, ofc I know it’s not easy to say. Currently I am doing this, 3x a week.Repxset
Squat 8×4 Ham Curl 10×3 Legs
Db press 8×4 Shoulder press 8×4 upper body push
Barbell row 8×4 Pull up 12x3Upper pull
Tricep pulldown 12×3 Barbell curl 12×3 Arms
I might add some deadlifts in the end just to kill myself completely, and complete failure on fridays so I can rest over weekend. I’m non atletheic, only done some casual sports for small periods. Is this enough to build on?
Also, what is your thought on mind-muscle connection, should I do lower weights and really focus on the muscle or just try to progress to lift as much weight as possible ( with good form ofc)?
No, that’s not enough. You need a lot more. You need to be shooting for 4-5 days and utilizing more movements for each muscle.
ex. Back…. you’re doing 4 sets of 8 on barbell row and 3 sets of 12 on pull-ups
Back is a big muscle and requires a lot more volume than that and plenty more movements.
You need to be focusing on lifting as much weight as possible in a controllable manner. And you need to always be on the lookout for small incremental improvement (adding a little bit more weight when you can).
Great post Sonny, couldn’t agree more.
I am curious about your mass gain diet suggestions. Really interested in what you have to say about that.
Yea I’ll put out a bunch of stuff…. Believe me, I will cover everything I have ever done over the course of my 8+ years in the gym.
I’ll even go into my nutrition I had as a child (what my father fed me) to provide some insight.
One thing I disagree with a lot of people on is the importance of training vs. nutrition…. I think a lot of guys put too much emphasis on having perfect nutrition when they should be focused on constantly upping the volume and intensity of their training.
You sleep about 6 to 8 hours. Do you ever worry about low testosterone and do you have morning wood?
No. I got very high natural test levels… that’s how I have been able to build my physique without steroid use. I can eat what I want pretty much and can not work out and not lose too much muscle. Got a high sex drive wake up with morning wood everyday and always have an “unstoppable” feeling. No joke a lot of it is being a legitimate genetic freak. I never get hurt. I’ve never broken a bone in my body (just a couple fingers from fights). I also never get sick. Last 2 times I got any type of sick… December 2005 (cold) and January 2009 (got a cold after running back to my college dorm naked/soaking wet in 0 degree weather). That’s it.
A lot of it had to do with upbringing and early nutrition. My father is a professional chef and he always fed me really healthy food. Most babies eat some sort of baby formula… my father hand fed me mooshed up salmon.
Most kids grew up eating cereal and shit for breakfast…. I was eating steak/eggs, bacon/eggs, beef stew. Also ate a lot of fish/shellfish (blue claw crabs and muscles). Never really ate fast food unless it was after a game. Played a lot of sports too. When I was younger I was always the fastest kid/best natural athlete compared to kids my age.
Here’s a big one: Unlike most guys in this generation, I didn’t grow up on Internet Pornography. I just didn’t. I was having regular sex with an actual girl long before I watched porn. I used to watch it on rare occasions and completely stopped nearly 3 years ago.
One of my goals on this site is to tell my story… exactly what I have done/experienced from my earliest childhood memories onward to be the guy I am today.
Hey Sonny, once again great stuff.
Regarding your statement “…I just didn’t. I was having regular sex with an actual girl long before I watched porn…”
That statement is probably the exact opposite of most guys on here – I know it was for me. What was your exact mindset back then? What I’m trying to get it as is all this getting jacked, screening women, dressing good, living in a great city, having a great job etc… is amazing advice and much needed yet I feel its places 2nd to that innate drive/feeling you had back then to go out and get fucking laid. It’s that feeling as well that drew girls to you and made them open up – pun very much intended!
Did you have that state of mind as long as you could remember or were you shy at first and it’s something that slowly developed? How about for your close friends who are the same level as you?
Thanks man!
The mindset was to live in reality/the moment as much as possible. I’m different from a lot of young adults. I’m a very mature 24 year old for this day and age. I’m more like a 24 yr in 1983 (a fully capable adult) vs a 24 yr old in 2014 (basically a teenager still).
Most kids in my (our) generation grew up with too many choices… too many distractions that prevent them from focusing on what really matters. Browsing PUA forums of the bodybuilding.com misc will not get you anywhere in life. It won’t bring you happiness. It won’t make you a man. Everyone talks about grabbing life by the bullhorns… but so few guys actually do it (or are even capable). They spend too much time consuming conflicting/terrible information and too much time doubting themselves.
I see it all the times on the forums… All these 18-20 yr olds asking for all the answers without first taking action. They want to essentially cheat life. But by denying yourself from experiencing fuck ups… you’re not learning and you’re growing up. You’re pretty much remaining a child and cheating yourself.
My household was chock full of the latest gadgets and gizmos and I barely spent time on the computer. I lived in the real world interacting with real people and making real connections.
As far as the drive is concerned… that was all conditional/upbringing. I think the most significant experience was the Summer of 2002 playing baseball and being subjected to brutal physical training and iron discipline… That’s a story in itself that I will tell as well.
I have a lot of natural anger…. Not really about anything. Just a lot of raw rage I have deep down. It drives me to go after what I want. This gives me a certain magnetism that attracts people in general.
This was also the result of upbringing. My father, uncle, friends and friends’ fathers all have it too.
on back day do u do dead lifts? I know some ppl like doing squats and dead lifts on the same day since dead lifts hits your hams but for me it hurts my back too much.
I usually do regular deadlifts on back day. On leg day, I’ll usually throw in some sort of other form of deadlifts to work hamstrings…. such as dumbbell deadlifts and Jefferson deadlifts.
hey Sonny what do you personally do to switch your workouts up? Like whenever you’ve been doing the same workout for a few month and your body adapts to it, how do you go about changing it up?
I usually have some sort of goal every few months…. like this Spring I have been prepping for 10 weeks for when I go on vacation next week.
I came up with a game plan/general split for each bodypart. There might be some variation but for the most part I stuck with the same exercises. There’s always going to be some little tweak though because everything is supersetted.
When I come back (after I take a week or 2 off) I’ll be back in the gym with a new split/utilizing different exercises.
whats your beef with compound lifts? have you done em yourself? like are you speaking from experience? you tried em and they didnt work? cuz i can tell you for me that shit work. and theres some ppl i know that it work for too. and also the nigga from boldanddetermined.com says the same shit too. he got a whole book on it matter fact. just sayin. heavy ass 5x5s is where its at. especially for squats n deads my nigga.
Check my stats (pics) playa… you can decide whether or not I know what I’m talking about. I don’t have anything against compound lifts I do em all the time.
I’m saying that if all you do is squat bench deadlift and want to develop the best/most balanced physique…. good luck with that.
Could you give me a specific amount of volume/rest times so i can try this out? been doing full body workouts but this makes sense. only problem is getting enough calories. currently 5’9 180 lbs.
You should be doing as much volume as you can possibly do… It’s hard for me to give specific values because I have no idea what you look like/what your physical capabilities are.
As far as rest times are concerned, you should be keeping them relatively low… like 45-60 sec tops. That keeps the intensity high.
How do I figure out the volume, then? Just say for arm day do as many sets/reps as possible per given exercise at highest weight possible until burn out?
Ideally, you should try to get 3-4 exercises in per body part and aim for at least 3-4 sets per exercise.
Since you’re just starting off with split training, just stick with straight sets for now… no need to worry about supersets and all that just yet.
Cool, thanks Sonny. What about rep ranges? My primary goal is size.
I think it’s in everyone’s best interest to be hitting around 15.
I personally got the best results from keeping them in the 15-20 rep range.
You think then like 20 for more isolation movements like machine chest press cable flies or pec dec, and then 15 for stuff like barbell and dumbbell bench press?
That could work. I tend to shoot for more reps on machines/isolation to really pump the muscle.
One of my favorite chest exercises was to do a superset of incline dumbbell press (15-20 reps) with Incline Hammer Strength Press (20-25 reps).
Yeah I can see that. Today was chest like your split said and I knocked out 24 sets of chest doing 4 sets each exercise 20 reps. Felt amazing, so much better than being drained with full body.
Yea dude stick with it…. you’ll get better results from doing that pretty much any generic garbage you’ll find on bodybuilding.com
Thanks man..just one thing. I’ve been doing the rep range you suggested, 20 reps for core exercises like squats and 25 for isolation like pec dec or dumbbell shoulder press or anything not compound movement.
Just curious, why this rep range over the typical 8-12 suggested for hypertrophy?
Because the key is to subject yourself to as much intensity as possible.
If you stick to 8-12 reps, you better have impeccable form (see Dorian Yates’ form in his old Blood and Guts tapes). Very slow and controlled.
High volume gets you in the mindset of working faster. Also boosts your heart rate and gives you better endurance.
High volume also pumps more blood into the muscle.
And personally… I believe the higher amount of reps maximizes the roundness of your muscle bellies. This is largely genetic/based on structure but volume can definitely improve it a little.
ex. You are far more likely to achieve that 3-D cannonball delt look doing a set of 25 reps on bent over laterals vs. 10 reps on military press.
What’s good Sonny!
Been following your split for a while now. The results are are showing but I’ve got an issue..
My deadlift is stalling badly. I used to deadlift bout 285 for 4 sets of 10 no straps (back in April).. I’ve been stuck at that weight since then. It was all good until yesterday.. I hit 225 for 5 reps, 3 sets! And this is the same person that used your back article advice about saving DLs for last.. and got 2nd place deadlift at our college spring fest before I graduated (580lb deadlift) smh.
My form is good. The problem seems to be my grip.I just know it is. It gives out before I even break a sweat. I have to resolve to hyper extensions as soon as the barbell drops outta my hands. What would you suggest to improve grip strength..?.. Before I get back on here sayin my DLs dropped to 135 ..with straps lol
Seriously tho. I can’t live with the fact that my DLs are going down. This shouldn’t be happening. Any advice..preferably something challenging.
Also.. You ever experienced negative progress like this before?
When you stagnate like that… drop the deadlifts for a while. You should be switching up your exercises anyway. With the Big 3 lifts, you definitely DO NOT want to always be doing them. Take a few weeks off every now and then and replace them with dumbbell movements or something.
Also ditch the straps for a while (for all your workouts)… And if you want a stronger grip, hammer the forearms directly with some supersetted movements.
Hammer curls and reverse barbell curls supersetted together are good.
Word. I took a two week break from squats recently and I’m now back on it. My strength levels remain the same… Plus I just feel fresh and revived.
Good lookin out!
Yea man gotta take breaks.
I completely take off November and December every year.
[…] Currently, I follow a 5-Split Routine from a great blog called Strength by Sonny: […]
Hi Sonny,
I can recommend your workout tips to everyone, I am using them myself and I read your article and I am really happy with that. Still I got two questions.
Due to my job that i really like, I work 2-3 days a week in the evenings. So the only way to make it possible to train 5 days a week, I started training before work in the mourning. Is there any disadvantage to train at this time and are there some special tips about the best time of the day to work out?
My second question is. Can you give us some special food advise? I am eating healthy and Im sure you do too. But are there some special facts that I have to set value on? Since the articles I read from you have been very helpful, Id love to read something about food/diet etc.
Thanks man and stay tuned.
Cheers!
I personally do not like training in the morning. I don’t have as much energy/strength. I need calories from meals in me to lift how I wanna lift. Some people are different and can train first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. That’s not me though because I will get very dizzy.
Yes, I will definitely get into the diet aspect as well.
Hey Sonny. Great article.
What are your thoughts on a full body including accessory work and push/pull/legs? I’m new to working out and wondering.
I read these two articles. What are your thoughts on this?
Clearly you will not be getting the same amount of volume but you’ll be getting much higher frequiency.
Also if cutting would you still use as much volume?
http://swolhq.com/2014/03/25/179/
http://swolhq.com/2014/03/03/training-frequency-what-is-optimal/
I think starting off everyone should experiment with some sort of routine where they are testing out different exercises to see what works best for them… this process should only last a few weeks though. You definitely want to get into some sort of split training if you want to make the best gains.
Frequency does not mean that much if there isn’t enough volume/intensity… it becomes a matter of simply going through the motions which you do not want to do.
best bet. Keep it simple and just go with the split training if you want to build your best/complete physique.
Sonny, my body type is lean to fit, 5’9″ 148lbs. After boxing for a couple years, I stopped so I could pursue graduate school. Now my goal is to gain upper body muscle mass, all while maintaining my lower body strength and coordination. I respect your opinion and want to ask you whether split training or the type of training outlined in Victor Pride’s Body of a Spartan is more suitable for my goals.
Thank you for your time and efforts in building this site. I use it as a resource every week.
I don’t know what he says… but split training will help you achieve your goal faster because you are hitting each muscle with concentrated intensity on a daily basis vs. full body workouts where there simply is not enough focus given to each muscle.
Hey Sonny
Question about workout length.
Today I did 4 set each for all these exercises: db press, db incline, dips, pec dec and pushed as hard as I could.
I made sure to get about 1 min rest, however it was alittle more in the end.
My workout was only 30-40 min long, is that enough? Cause 16 sets x2 is 32 min, so it seems I didn’t slack between sets.
Also, can pec dec be used as a primary exercise (instead of db bench) I am feeling like when I do pressing movements my triceps take over, maybe it’s because I have short arms, so my range of motion when doing press is really short?
what I mean is I don’t get a pump in my chest or feel it working as hard as it could do.
Try machine presses. I sometimes go through phases where I get better pumps with machines and use them as my primary movements. Pec Dec is too much of an isolation movement to be your main exercises… what you can do (and what I suggest you try out) is to start with pec dec as a pre-exhausting warm up exercises. Just do like 3 sets just to get the blood flowing in your chest then move on to presses.
This makes a lot of sense. I do find myself able to do less (guilty of shoulders chest on the same day) because of it. Do you use a workout buddy (for spotting) or do you go solo? I hate having to workout on someone else s schedule half the time or hear some bullshit excuse as to why we shouldn’t go to the gym.
I usually workout solo… However, I have trained with some hardcore motherfuckers that absolutely buried me.
Especially back in 2008.
coming back to check this out, but what do you recommend for a 4 day split?
That’s really up to you and what you are feeling.
Here’s what I do when I knock it down to 4 days.
Monday: abs back traps
Tuesday: chest bis
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Quads Hams calves
Friday: shoulder tris forearms
[…] I do not think I need to keep imposing my expertise on the muscle building game. […]
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Muscle Building routines
How to Use Split Training (and win the muscle building game) • Strength By Sonny
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http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-muscle-building-workout-routine/
This article seems to make a lot of sense and counters your idea of working out certain muscles per day rather than entirely upper body and entirely lower body. Would appreciate it if you gave this a read and lmk what you think.
Where’s the author’s pictures?
I post mine up… Where’s the author’s?
Hey Sonny. I found your blog thanks to Oskar from skinnyfattransformation.com . I have been following his routine for a while, you probably know about that routine (chin ups and diamond push ups). After some months I can do about 15 chin ups and a ton of diamond push ups. I decide to move forward and enter to a gym. But man, after readind a lot of articles I’m so lost. Some people say that I should do 5×5/3×5 strength programs with progressions and the others recommend me an split. I don’t know what to do, I have probably read to much and I’m overthinking it but it seems so controversial. I have to say that my main focus is to gain mass and be BIG, so BIG. So please I would appreciate a lot your help if you can give me some advice about what is the correct way to follow. Thanks.
Look at my physique… that was built with split training.
Split training taxes the muscles directly in the most efficient manner.
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I have found so much of what you say to be true.
I spent my first year on full body 3 and 2 days a week focusing on strength. I than used an upper lower for almost 2 years, results were far from stellar, albeit I wasn’t eating a ton of food because I still had a lot of fat to lose. When I switched to 4 day split things got better but was doing the typical 6-10 sometimes 12-15 rep scheme.
It wasn’t until I split things up further, 6 day split and started using a lot of rest pause sets that things started moving again.
However I have yet to use such high rep ranges like you suggest.
Doesn’t such a high rep range limit your ability to make strength gains thus limiting size gains as well?
No because you are getting stronger by lifting weights. High volume also activates muscle fibers in a different way.