5 Day Split

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
* 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

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
* 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

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
AbsAdvanced Ab Workout + leg raises

Sunday

Cardio:jog, brisk walk or bike for 20 minutes