Training Approaches

A split is how you divide your training across the week — which muscles you work on which days. There is no single right answer, and the differences between these matter less than you might expect.

What actually matters#

Before choosing between them, it's worth knowing what the research says drives results, because it isn't the split itself:

Total weekly volume matters more than frequency. When studies hold weekly volume equal, training a muscle once a week or six times a week produces similar growth. Twice-a-week training looks better than once-a-week in most studies largely because those people did more total work, not because of the frequency itself.
Training each muscle group at least twice a week is a well-supported floor. That's the American College of Sports Medicine's 2026 guidance, and it's a practical recommendation rather than a magic number — spreading your work across two sessions is simply an easier way to fit enough of it in.
Roughly 10 sets per muscle group per week is the volume ACSM associates with building muscle. Any of the splits below can deliver that; they just arrange it differently.
Very high single-session volume is where frequency starts to matter. Once you're doing somewhere past 15 sets for one muscle in a session, the evidence favours splitting that work across more days — quality drops off near the end of a very long session.

ACSM's own summary of their 2026 update puts it bluntly: "The best resistance training program is the one you'll actually stick with." A split you follow for a year beats a better one you abandon in March. Pick based on the days you can genuinely train, and change your mind later if it isn't working — nothing here locks you in.

Full Body#

Every session trains your whole body: legs, chest, back, shoulders and arms, usually with one or two exercises per area rather than several.

Who it suits: Beginners, and anyone who can only train two or three days a week. Because every muscle gets worked every session, you still cover everything in a week where you miss a day. ACSM suggests 2–3 days a week for people new to lifting, which this fits neatly.

Typical frequency: 2–3 days a week, with a rest day in between.

Pros: The hardest split to derail — miss a session and you've still trained everything recently. You get frequent practice at each movement, which is how technique improves fastest when you're starting out.

Cons: Sessions get long once you add much volume, and there's little room for isolation work. As you get stronger, heavy squats three times a week alongside everything else becomes harder to recover from.

Upper / Lower#

Alternates between an upper-body day (chest, back, shoulders, arms) and a lower-body day (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves).

Who it suits: Anyone past their first few months who can train three or four days a week and wants more work per muscle than Full Body leaves room for.

Typical frequency: 4 days a week — upper, lower, rest, upper, lower — though 3 works on a rolling rotation.

Pros: On four days, every muscle group gets trained twice a week without any single session becoming enormous. Recovery is easy to plan: your legs rest while you train upper body.

Cons: Upper-body days get crowded, since chest, back, shoulders and arms all share one session — and that's exactly the situation where session quality can suffer late on. Less forgiving than Full Body if you can only train twice a week.

Push / Pull / Legs#

Three kinds of session. Push covers chest, shoulders and triceps — everything that presses. Pull covers back and biceps — everything that pulls. Legs covers quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves.

Who it suits: People training four to six days a week who want more exercises per muscle group than Upper/Lower allows.

Typical frequency: 3 or 6 days a week. Once through the rotation trains each muscle weekly; twice through trains it twice.

Pros: It groups muscles that already work together, so exercises complement each other rather than compete — your triceps are warm from pressing before you train them directly. Sessions stay focused and sensibly sized.

Cons: At 3 days a week each muscle is trained once, so all of its weekly volume lands in one session. That's workable, but it's the arrangement most likely to leave you doing your last few sets tired. Getting to twice a week means six sessions, which is a lot of gym time.

Bro Split#

One muscle group per day — chest day, back day, shoulder day, leg day, arm day. The name is gym slang and slightly mocking, but plenty of experienced lifters train this way.

Who it suits: People who enjoy long, focused sessions and can reliably train five days a week.

Typical frequency: 5 days a week, each muscle group once.

Pros: You can work one muscle from several angles in a session. Easy to plan, easy to remember, and a given muscle always has a full week to recover.

Cons: All of a muscle's weekly volume has to fit into one session. That's the case where the research does favour spreading work out — past roughly 15 sets in a session, splitting it across more days tends to serve you better. It also needs five consistent days to work at all, and missing your leg day means your legs get nothing for a fortnight.

2-Day Push / Pull#

Two kinds of session, alternating. Push covers chest, shoulders, triceps and quads. Pull covers back, biceps, hamstrings and glutes. Legs are folded into both rather than getting a day of their own.

Who it suits: Anyone who wants Push/Pull/Legs' logic on fewer days a week.

Typical frequency: 4 days a week — push, pull, rest, push, pull — or 2 when that's all the week allows.

Pros: On four days, each muscle group gets trained twice a week. There are only ever two sessions to remember, and unlike splits needing four or five days, it still functions when you're down to two.

Cons: Sessions are dense, since each covers both an upper-body and a lower-body region. Legs get less dedicated attention than under Push/Pull/Legs or Upper/Lower.

Where this guidance comes from#

The frequency and volume figures above reflect the American College of Sports Medicine's 2026 resistance training position stand — their first update in seventeen years, drawing on data from more than 30,000 participants — together with published meta-analyses of training frequency by Schoenfeld and colleagues.

This is general information to help you choose a starting point, not personalised advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, or you're unsure whether something is right for you, talk to a doctor or a qualified trainer.