6-Day Workout Split: The Best Routines for Training 6x a Week
The best 6-day workout split for most lifters is push/pull/legs run twice: every muscle trained 2x per week with 14-20 hard sets, in six 45-60 minute sessions. The Arnold split and a 3x upper/lower are the alternatives. The real question on 6 days is not the split, it is whether you can recover from it.
Maciej Glowacki
The best 6-day workout split for most lifters is push/pull/legs run twice: push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs, rest. Every muscle gets trained twice per week, sessions stay at 45-60 minutes, and the volume ceiling is the highest of any standard split.
The frequency case is the same one that applies everywhere: a 2016 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld et al. linked twice-weekly training to roughly 63% more growth than once-weekly. But 6 days is also where the honest caveats start stacking up. One rest day per week is a real recovery constraint, and more sessions only help if you actually need the volume they carry.
Key takeaways:
- PPL run twice is the default 6-day split: every muscle 2x/week with focused 45-60 minute sessions.
- The Arnold split (chest+back, shoulders+arms, legs, twice) is the alternative if delts and arms are your priority.
- Upper/lower run three times gives 3x weekly frequency but the least per-session focus.
- 6 days earns its cost only when several muscles need 16-20+ weekly sets. Below that, 4-5 days grows the same muscle with more recovery.
- One rest day per week means recovery discipline decides results: 7+ hours of sleep, adequate calories, and a deload every 4-8 weeks.
Option 1: push/pull/legs twice per week (recommended)
The structure:
| Day | Session | Muscles |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Push A | Chest, shoulders, triceps |
| Tuesday | Pull A | Back, biceps, rear delts |
| Wednesday | Legs A | Quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves |
| Thursday | Push B | Chest, shoulders, triceps |
| Friday | Pull B | Back, biceps, rear delts |
| Saturday | Legs B | Quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves |
| Sunday | Rest |
Make the A and B days different: A days heavier (5-8 reps, barbell focus), B days volume-focused (10-15 reps, dumbbells and machines). This trains strength and size in the same week and stops the second rotation from being a tired copy of the first.
The complete push, pull, and leg workouts with every exercise, set, and rep live in the push/pull/legs guide. Weekly volume lands at 10-12 sets for chest and back, 8-10 for shoulders and arms, and 10-12 for quads, with room to add 2-4 sets wherever you have a lagging muscle.
Option 2: the Arnold split
Same 6-day rhythm, different grouping: chest and back together, shoulders and arms together, then legs, repeated twice. The pairing of chest with back allows antagonist supersets that cut session time, and shoulders plus arms get a full dedicated day, roughly double the direct volume a PPL week gives them.
| Day | Session |
|---|---|
| Monday | Chest and back |
| Tuesday | Shoulders and arms |
| Wednesday | Legs |
| Thursday | Chest and back |
| Friday | Shoulders and arms |
| Saturday | Legs |
| Sunday | Rest |
A 2024 meta-analysis of 14 studies found no hypertrophy difference between split types at equal volume, so choose by structure: Arnold if delts and arms are the priority, PPL for even balance. The full routine with modern volume targets is in the Arnold split guide.
Option 3: upper/lower three times
Run the upper/lower split three times through: upper, lower, upper, lower, upper, lower, rest. Every muscle lands 3x per week with moderate volume per session.
This suits lifters who like frequent practice on the big lifts: a 2018 meta-analysis by Grgic et al. linked higher training frequency to faster strength gains. The downside is monotony (only two session types all week) and upper-body fatigue accumulation, since chest, back, and shoulders all work on three separate days. If growth is the main goal, PPL distributes the same volume with better per-session focus.
Do you actually need 6 days?
This is the question to answer before picking between the options. When weekly volume is equated, a 2019 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Grgic, and Krieger across 25 studies found frequency itself adds nothing. And a 2025 analysis by Pelland et al. of 67 studies confirmed volume drives growth with diminishing returns per added set.
Six days earns its single rest day only when you need more than 16-18 weekly sets for several muscle groups, which is typically an advanced-lifter problem after years of training. If your weekly targets fit into 4-5 sessions of 45-60 minutes, extra days add fatigue without extra growth.
Running 6 days also raises the stakes on recovery. Watch for performance dropping across several lifts at once: that is systemic fatigue, and the fix is a deload week, not more effort. The best workout split guide compares all schedules if you want to sanity-check whether 6 days is your best option.
Hypro has 6-day plans pre-built with sets, reps, and Smart Progression targets, and tracks your weekly volume and recovery as you log.
Browse free training plans
Maciej Glowacki
Founder and CEO of Hypro. Built the platform from the ground up with years of hands-on lifting experience.
