Which muscle groups will you train?

Deciding which muscle groups to work on each session is one of the most important choices in building an effective training plan. The right split depends on your goals, experience, available time, and recovery capacity. This article walks through the core principles, popular splits, sample weekly plans, exercise selection, and practical tips to help you pick the best approach.

Core principles

• Goal first: Prioritize strength, hypertrophy (muscle growth), fat loss, or athletic performance. Each goal shifts volume, intensity, and exercise choice.
• Frequency matters: Hitting a muscle 2–3 times per week is generally optimal for most people seeking hypertrophy and strength. Beginners may benefit more from full-body sessions, while advanced lifters sometimes require more focused splits.
• Volume is king: Total weekly effective sets per muscle drive progress. For hypertrophy, a common target is 10–20 sets per muscle per week, adjusted by experience and recovery.
• Intensity and progression: Track weights, reps, or sets (progressive overload). Regularly increase load or volume to continue adapting.
• Recovery: Sleep, nutrition, and stress management determine how much volume you can handle. Schedule easier sessions or rest days when needed.

Popular splits and when to use them

• Full-body (3×/week): Best for beginners, time-crunched lifters, or anyone wanting high frequency with moderate volume per session. Each workout hits all major muscle groups.
• Upper/Lower (4×/week): Great balance of frequency and volume. Allows heavier sessions and more focused accessory work.
• Push/Pull/Legs (3–6×/week): Very flexible. Can be arranged as a 3-day rotation or doubled to 6 days for higher volume and specialization.
• Bodypart (bro-split) (4–6×/week): One or two muscles per session (e.g., chest day, back day). Often used by advanced bodybuilders to target specific muscles with high volume, but usually lowers weekly frequency per muscle unless doubled.
• Hybrid/Strength-focused: Combine heavy compound-focused strength days with accessory hypertrophy days (e.g., heavy squat/bench/deadlift days plus higher-rep accessory workouts).

Sample weekly templates

• Beginner (full-body, 3 days)

  • Day A: Squat, Bench Press, Row, Overhead Press, Core
  • Day B: Deadlift, Pull-Up, Lunges, Dips, Core
  • Day C: Front Squat, Incline Press, Single-arm Row, Hamstring Curls, Mobility

• Intermediate (upper/lower, 4 days)

  • Upper 1: Bench, Row, Incline DB Press, Lat Pulldown, Biceps
  • Lower 1: Squat, Romanian Deadlift, Leg Press, Calves, Core
  • Upper 2: Overhead Press, Pull-Up, Chest Fly, Rear Delt, Triceps
  • Lower 2: Deadlift, Front Squat, Lunges, Hamstrings, Calves

• Advanced (PPL 6 days)

  • Push: Heavy bench/press + triceps and shoulders
  • Pull: Heavy row/deadlift + biceps and rear delts
  • Legs: Heavy squat/deadlift variations + quads/hamstrings/calves
  • Repeat with lighter/higher-rep variations on the second half of the week

Choosing exercises per muscle group

• Chest: Bench press (barbell), dumbbell press, incline variations, chest flyes.
• Back: Deadlift, barbell row, single-arm row, pull-ups, lat pulldowns.
• Legs: Squat, lunges, leg press, Romanian deadlift, hamstring curls, calf raises.
• Shoulders: Overhead press, lateral raises, face pulls, rear delt flyes.
• Arms: Close-grip pressing and dips for triceps; curls (barbell, dumbbell, hammer) for biceps.
• Core: Planks, anti-rotation holds, hanging leg raises, weighted crunches.

Balance compound lifts (multi-joint) for strength and mass with isolation work for detail and addressing weaknesses.

Volume, intensity, and progression guidelines

• Beginners: 8–12 total sets per muscle per week can be enough to start making progress.
• Intermediate/advanced: 12–20+ sets per muscle per week, spread across 2–3 sessions.
• Reps and load: Use 4–6 reps for strength-focused sets, 6–12 for hypertrophy, and 12–20+ for endurance or metabolic conditioning. Mix rep ranges across the week.
• Progressive overload: Add small increments in weight, extra reps, or extra sets over weeks. Deload every 4–12 weeks depending on training intensity.

Recovery and injury prevention

• Warm up dynamically before heavy lifts and include mobility work to maintain joint health.
• Rotate emphasis to avoid overuse (e.g., alternate heavy and lighter weeks or vary exercise selection).
• Prioritize sleep and protein intake (rough guideline: 1.6–2.2 g/kg bodyweight for most trainees).
• If a joint or muscle is persistently sore, reduce volume and address technique or imbalances.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Training by "feel" only: Without tracking load and volume, it’s hard to manage progression.
• Too much isolation too early: Beginners should emphasize compound movements first.
• Overtraining individual muscles: Hitting the same muscle every day with high volume can stall progress.
• Neglecting weaker muscles: If a bodypart lags, increase its frequency and prioritize it early in a session.

How to decide what to prioritize

1. Identify your main goal (strength, size, aesthetics, endurance).
2. Pick a realistic training frequency based on weekly availability and recovery.
3. Allocate weekly volume per muscle according to priority (e.g., 15–20 sets for priority muscles, 8–12 for maintenance).
4. Choose a split that lets you hit frequencies and volumes consistently.
5. Track results and adjust every 4–8 weeks.

Conclusion

If you want a clear, practical guide to dividing muscle groups across workouts, check this helpful resource on how to correctly split muscle groups into workouts. It offers templates and principles you can adapt to your schedule and goals.