5-Day Workout Split for Muscle Gain: PPL + Upper/Lower

What is the best 5-day workout split?

For most lifters, start with upper/lower plus push/pull/legs. Train upper and lower early in the week, take a day off, then finish with push, pull, and legs. Every major muscle gets worked twice, and each workout stays focused.

That makes it easier to spread your weekly work than a classic bro split. A 2019 review of 25 studies found that training a muscle more often did not build more muscle when the same total work was done each week. The fifth day is useful because it keeps workouts manageable and leaves room for weak points, not because five is a magic number.

The recommended 5-day schedule: upper/lower + PPL

This layout combines two familiar structures. The upper/lower pair covers the whole body early in the week, then push, pull, and legs days add focused work:

Why it works on 5 days: every muscle appears in two sessions, the rep-range changes keep the week varied, and the focused days let you add work where you need it without inflating everything else. That is the point of the fifth day.

Complete 5-day PPL + upper/lower workout: exercises, sets and reps

A complete Hypro editorial upper/lower plus PPL example with public exercise guides and movement images. It is separate from protected Premium plans.

1

Upper

Heavy emphasis

1. 
   Barbell Bench Press4 sets × 5-8 reps
2. 
   Bent Over Rows4 sets × 6-8 reps
3. 
   Barbell Overhead Press3 sets × 6-10 reps
4. 
   Lat Pulldown3 sets × 8-10 reps
5. 
   EZ Bar Curl2 sets × 10-12 reps

2

Lower

Heavy emphasis

1. 
   Barbell Squats4 sets × 5-8 reps
2. 
   Romanian Deadlift3 sets × 8-10 reps
3. 
   Leg Press3 sets × 10-12 reps
4. 
   Lying Leg Curl3 sets × 10-12 reps
5. 
   Standing Calf Raise4 sets × 10-12 reps

3

Push

Volume emphasis

1. 
   Incline Bench Dumbbell Press4 sets × 10-12 reps
2. 
   Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press3 sets × 10-15 reps
3. 
   Low Cable Chest Fly3 sets × 12-15 reps
4. 
   Dumbbell Lateral Raise3 sets × 12-15 reps
5. 
   Triceps Pushdown Rope3 sets × 10-15 reps

4

Pull

Volume emphasis

1. 
   Pull-Up4 sets × 8-12 reps
2. 
   Cable Row Narrow Grip4 sets × 10-12 reps
3. 
   Cable Face Pull3 sets × 15-20 reps
4. 
   Dumbbell Bicep Curl3 sets × 10-15 reps
5. 
   Hammer Curl2 sets × 10-15 reps

5

Legs

Volume emphasis

1. 
   Leg Press4 sets × 10-15 reps
2. 
   Bulgarian Split Squats Dumbbell3 sets × 10-12/leg reps
3. 
   Stiff Legs Deadlift3 sets × 10-12 reps
4. 
   Leg Extension3 sets × 12-15 reps
5. 
   Seated Calf Raise4 sets × 12-15 reps

Keep most working sets around 1-3 RIR. Rest 2-3 minutes on compounds and 60-90 seconds on isolation work, extending the rest when performance needs it. In one study of trained young men, Schoenfeld et al. (2016) found better strength and hypertrophy outcomes with 3-minute rests than 1-minute rests over eight weeks. That comparison supports adequate rest, not one perfect timer setting for every exercise.

Option 2: the 5-day bodybuilding split

If you prefer dedicating sessions to fewer muscles, use pairings to give selected priorities more weekly work. The example below prioritizes back and quads while keeping the clear focus of a body-part split:

Notice the difference from a classic bro split: back appears twice, quads appear on three days, and pressing work is spread across the week. Chest still has one direct day, so this is a priority-focused layout rather than an every-muscle-twice plan.

The trade-off is complexity. You need to manage overlapping fatigue: heavy rowing on Thursday affects Saturday's back work, and Tuesday's quad session affects Friday. If you would rather not think about that, run the hybrid from Option 1.

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What about the classic bro split?

The traditional chest / back / shoulders / arms / legs layout trains every muscle once per week. It is simple and it feels focused. Its trade-off is practical rather than a guaranteed biological penalty: a full week's work for one muscle must fit into one session, where fatigue can reduce the quality of later sets.

One important nuance: when weekly volume is equated, a 2019 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Grgic, and Krieger across 25 studies found frequency itself made little difference. A bro split can therefore grow muscle. The practical concern is set quality: as a long muscle-specific session accumulates fatigue, reps or technique may decline. Spreading the work across two sessions can make the dose easier to recover from.

We cover the full layout, who it suits, and how to fix its weak points in the dedicated bro split guide.

Volume check: are you hitting your weekly targets?

Whichever option you run, use weekly sets as an adjustable dose. In the hybrid above, chest gets 11 direct sets, back 15, quads 17 including Bulgarian split squats, hamstrings 9, and shoulders 9 direct sets plus indirect pressing. The weekly-volume guide explains how to count overlap and adjust those routine-specific values.

Five days is where a useful schedule can turn into an all-you-can-lift buffet. More gym days make it tempting to add sets everywhere, but a 2026 analysis by Pelland et al. of 67 studies found a positive volume dose-response with diminishing returns per added set. Use the fifth day to bring up one or two lagging muscles, not to inflate everything.

Two tools help here:

• The weekly sets calculator gives per-muscle targets scaled to your schedule and focus.
• The progressive overload calculator helps you decide when to add weight or reps on each lift.

Not sure 5 days is right for you? The best workout split guide compares every split across 3, 4, 5, and 6 training days.