5 Day Split Home Workout
This 5 day split used to be listed as my “Advanced Home Workout”. Although this is a great workout and it has its uses, it is not optimal for muscle gain nor strength gain. I admit it when I am wrong and the last decade has proven to my satisfaction that I was wrong. Working out each muscle just once every seven days is simply not often enough for optimal muscle gain.
First, the 5 day split is only appropriate for advanced lifters. If you cannot do at least 8 pullups with flawless form then it is sub-optimal for muscle gain and strength gain and you should be doing the beginning or intermediate workouts.
This five day split is awesome to do a month but please, dont do it all year long. Working out each body part just once a week allows you to blast it to smithereens BUT working out a body part only once every seven days is just not optimal in the long term.
How to modify 5 day split for optimal muscle mass gains
The main flaw with the 5 day split is that each muscle only gets worked out every seven days. We can correct this with a LOT of gym time as follows; however, I do not recommend this because its virtually guaranteed to give you overuse injuries. If you do this, do it for at most a few weeks. Note that all 5 workouts are completed in 4 days and then the cycle is repeated so that the entire body gets worked out twice in 8 days. You could also add another cardio day to make it a repeating 5 day cycle. Again, this workout is just asking for injury and I strongly suggest that if you want this kind of volume you use my advanced extreme home workout instead.
| Morning | Evening | ||
| Day 1 | Chest | Back | |
| Day 2 | Legs | 50 min cardio | |
| Day 3 | Shoulders | Arms | |
| Day 4 | 50 min cardio |
Repeat
Monday – Chest
| Exercise | Number sets | Number reps | Tempo | |
| dumbbell flys | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn | |
| dumbbell press | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn | |
| incline press | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn | |
| incline fly | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn | |
| hip pushups* | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn | |
| Weights: 45 – 70 minutes Cardio: 20 minutes – jog, brisk walk or bike |
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| * or bench press if you have a bench press with safety catch bars or a competent spotter | ||||
Tuesday – Lats
| Exercise | Number sets | Number reps | Tempo |
| weighted pullups | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| dumbbell rows | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| narrow grip pullups | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| bent over rows | 3 | 4-8 | 1s up 1s dn |
| alternating grip pullup | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| Weights: 45 – 70 minutes Cardio: 20 minutes – jog, brisk walk or bike |
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Wednesday – Legs
| Exercise | Number sets | Number reps | Tempo |
| lunges | 3 | 4-8 each leg | 2s up 2s dn |
| stiff legged dead lifts | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| skateboard squats* | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| weighted calf raises | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| hanging leg curls | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| Weights: 45 – 70 minutes Cardio: 20 minutes – jog, brisk walk or bike |
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| * or squats if you have a squat cage with safety catch bars or a competent spotter | |||
Thursday – Shoulders
| Exercise | Number sets | Number reps | Tempo |
| alternating dumbell press | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| side raise | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| reverse flys | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| front raise | 3 | 4-8 | 1s up 1s dn |
| shrugs | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| inner&outer rotations | 3 | 10-20 | 2s up 2s dn |
| Weights: 45 – 70 minutes Cardio: 20 minutes – jog, brisk walk or bike |
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Friday – Arms
| Exercise | Number sets | Number reps | Tempo |
| chair dips | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| dumbbell french press | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| scooby press | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| forced negative dumbbell curls | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| hammer curls | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| reverse curls | 3 | 4-8 | 2s up 2s dn |
| Cardio: 20 minutes – jog, brisk walk or bike & Weights: 45 – 70 minutes | |||
Saturday
| Cardio:jog, brisk walk or bike for 20 minutes |
| Abs: Advanced Ab Workout + leg raises |
Sunday
| Cardio:jog, brisk walk or bike for 20 minutes |