What's the best Monday through Friday split?

[BlackJack619]

Right now I am doing;

Monday - Back
Tuesday - Chest and Abs
Wednesday - Legs
Thursday - shoulders and abs
Friday - Arms

[coachcalande]

Hmm. Frequency matters.

Monday upper
Tuesday lower/arms
Wednesday rest
Thursday upper
Friday lower/arms (deadlift day)

[TAWS6]

Upper lower is pretty convenient. Makes it easy to get 2 times per week frequency and 20 sets per muscle group a week. I’ve been a fan of this setup lately. It’s pretty much a heavy light phat style.

Monday upper strength 5-8 reps
Tuesday lower strength 5-8 reps
Wednesday off
Thursday upper volume 10-15 reps
Friday lower volume 10-15 reps
Saturday off
Sunday off

[DogletDusk]

Upper lower is pretty convenient. Makes it easy to get 2 times per week frequency and 20 sets per muscle group a week. I’ve been a fan of this setup lately. It’s pretty much a heavy light phat style.

Monday upper strength 5-8 reps
Tuesday lower strength 5-8 reps
Wednesday off
Thursday upper volume 10-15 reps
Friday lower volume 10-15 reps
Saturday off
Sunday off

Interesting setup. Been thinking of doing this heavy/light style for u/l. Do you mind sharing what each day looks like?

[TAWS6]

Interesting setup. Been thinking of doing this heavy/light style for u/l. Do you mind sharing what each day looks like?

Sure. My template is

Upper - bench 3x5, pendlay row 3x8, Db flies 3x8, pull ups 3x5, barbell curl 3x8, lateral raise 3x8

Lower - squats 3x5, rdl 3x8, leg extension 3x8, calf/abs

Upper - incline press 3x10, lat pull down 3x12, db flat press 3x12, row 3x12, hammer curl 3x12, tri iso 3x10,

Lower - rdl 3x12, db lunge 3x12, leg curl 3x10, leg extension 3x12, calf abs

I add weight monthly if possible
I don’t squat twice a week because I don’t want to anymore lol
I’m not currently training rear delts because of past injuries. Adding face pulls would be ideal.

[DogletDusk]

Sure. My template is

Upper - bench 3x5, pendlay row 3x8, Db flies 3x8, pull ups 3x5, barbell curl 3x8, lateral raise 3x8

Lower - squats 3x5, rdl 3x8, leg extension 3x8, calf/abs

Upper - incline press 3x10, lat pull down 3x12, db flat press 3x12, row 3x12, hammer curl 3x12, tri iso 3x10,

Lower - rdl 3x12, db lunge 3x12, leg curl 3x10, leg extension 3x12, calf abs

I add weight monthly if possible
I don’t squat twice a week because I don’t want to anymore lol
I’m not currently training rear delts because of past injuries. Adding face pulls would be ideal.

Cheers for that! Looks good. Will give me some ideas

Just out of curiosity, what benefit does something like this have over mixing together the low and high rep stuff within the same workout. So if I was to rewrite your days:

Upper - bench 3x5, pendlay row 3x8, lat pulldown 3x12, incline 3x12 etc

Upper - pull up 3x5, lateral 3x8, row 3x12, db bench 3x12, etc

Or is it just preference and evens out by the end of the week?

[EliKoehn]

U/L or L/U on an alternating basis. With the exception that I prefer deadlifting before squatting usually (but not always) my exercise selection and volume looks very similar to TAWS's.

The most fun workout in my opinion is deadlifting and benching maximum intensity, alternating sets. It's pretty terrible for any kind of recurring efficiency consideration though.

Beautifully simple, maximum poundage for the movement pattern; full body stimulus. Feels awesome.

[coachcalande]

U/L or L/U on an alternating basis. With the exception that I prefer deadlifting before squatting usually (but not always) my exercise selection and volume looks very similar to TAWS's.

The most fun workout in my opinion is deadlifting and benching maximum intensity, alternating sets. It's pretty terrible for any kind of recurring efficiency consideration though.

Beautifully simple, maximum poundage for the movement pattern; full body stimulus. Feels awesome.

I used an upper lower for training football players for years.

Mondays and Thursdays were always compound upper body pushes and pulls

Tues and fridays always started with squats but Tuesday included front squats while Friday was for deadlift after squats. Leg press was to be done on both tues and Friday

[EliKoehn]

I used an upper lower for training football players for years.

Mondays and Thursdays were always compound upper body pushes and pulls

Tues and thurs always started with squats but Tuesday included front squats while Friday was for deadlift after squats. Leg press was to be done on both tues and Friday

What are your thoughts on deadlifting first and then squatting for a lower day?

[coachcalande]

What are your thoughts on deadlifting first and then squatting for a lower day?

Hard to squat with a tired low back.

Deadlift then leg press is a great option that we used often while only squatting on Tuesday

[EliKoehn]

Hard to squat with a tired low back.

Deadlift then leg press is a great option that we used often while only squatting on Tuesday

True, but isn't that just placing the premium on one over the other? It's also hard to deadlift with a tired low back (or glutes for that matter, since both exercises fry them).

Not saying someone shouldn't squat first I just tend to see that as the rule of thumb in conventional programming.

[leidenesLK]

What are your thoughts on deadlifting first and then squatting for a lower day?

Yes, that’s fine. It’s not that serious. The rationale behind squatting first is that it primes your body better for deadlifting, but if you’re ramping/warming up properly on the deadlift it shouldn’t be an issue. You may even find you’re fresher and perform better on deadlifts this way. Try it out. A fairly common U/L template with the main heavy movement performed first:

Upper 1 - Heavy Bench/Light OHP
Upper 2 - Heavy OHP/Light Bench
Lower 1 - Heavy Squat/Light Deadlift
Lower 2 - Heavy Deadlift/Light Squat

[coachcalande]

True, but isn't that just placing the premium on one over the other? It's also hard to deadlift with a tired low back (or glutes for that matter, since both exercises fry them).

Not saying someone shouldn't squat first I just tend to see that as the rule of thumb in conventional programming.

It definitely is. Both work the posterior chain and interesting enough we had guys skyrocket on deadlift even when rarely performed. When we did squats Tuesday and deadlift focus Friday we were usually training 3-5 reps

[EliKoehn]

It definitely is. Both work the posterior chain and interesting enough we had guys skyrocket on deadlift even when rarely performed. When we did squats Tuesday and deadlift focus Friday we were usually training 3-5 reps

Mine improved doing squat first on a 6 week program, so there's probably a good reason for it. Of course my squat was very weak so that was probably a bottleneck of it's own to begin with.

[coachcalande]

Mine improved doing squat first on a 6 week program, so there's probably a good reason for it. Of course my squat was very weak so that was probably a bottleneck of it's own to begin with.

I feel like I can do deadlift like three times a year and make progress as long as Im getting gains in squats and back work but I do love deads. I just don’t have enough wt at home so usually only dead at the school gym.

[EliKoehn]

I feel like I can do deadlift like three times a year and make progress as long as Im getting gains in squats and back work but I do love deads. I just don’t have enough wt at home so usually only dead at the school gym.

What was your all-time deadlift max? The sig lift is impressive but it's not a max. Getting close to the 1500 total?

[coachcalande]

What was your all-time deadlift max? The sig lift is impressive but it's not a max. Getting close to the 1500 total?

I
Don’t believe I have ever pulled more than 550. I have deadlifted maybe two times in the last three years but usually stay at 3-5 reps after ramping.

[coachcalande]

As far as the total goes, not sure I will make it. Just training with more sets and reps and with the mindset of avoiding injuries! Im probably not going to ever do any true maxes again, Three rep
Maxes are usually around 90% of a 1 reps max and I can handle that if I warm up well.

[TAWS6]

Cheers for that! Looks good. Will give me some ideas

Just out of curiosity, what benefit does something like this have over mixing together the low and high rep stuff within the same workout. So if I was to rewrite your days:

Upper - bench 3x5, pendlay row 3x8, lat pulldown 3x12, incline 3x12 etc

Upper - pull up 3x5, lateral 3x8, row 3x12, db bench 3x12, etc

Or is it just preference and evens out by the end of the week?

Since you’ll be moving less weight on the higher rep days the work outs will be easier to get through. That is what makes it a “heavy/light”. At more advanced levels going truly heavy twice per week can really grind most people into the dust. I learned this by trial and error.

[TolerantLactose]

My split is Saturday to Wednesday.

Sorry.