5-day body part split: a free bro split plan

One muscle group per day, five days a week: chest, back, legs, shoulders, arms. Each session goes deep on one area with lots of sets and exercises, and that area then gets a full week to recover.

Days per week: 5
Level: Intermediate
Session: 60–75 min
Equipment: Free weight, Machine, Cable, and Bodyweight

Who it’s for

Experienced lifters who enjoy long, focused sessions on one muscle group and can train five days a week. If you often miss days, a split that trains each muscle twice, like Upper / Lower, loses less when a session falls through.

Weekly schedule

Mon · Chest
Tue · Back
Wed · Legs
Thu · Shoulders
Fri · Arms
Sat · Rest
Sun · Rest

Chest

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Bench Press	4	6–10
Incline Dumbbell Press	3	8–12
Chest Press Machine	3	10–12
Cable Crossover	3	12–15
Chest Dip	2	8–12

Back

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Pull Up	4	6–10
Barbell Row	3	6–10
Lat Pulldown	3	10–12
Seated Cable Row	3	10–12
Straight Arm Pulldown	2	12–15
Barbell Shrug	3	10–15

Legs

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Back Squat	4	6–10
Leg Press	3	10–15
Romanian Deadlift	3	8–10
Leg Extension	3	12–15
Lying Leg Curl	3	10–15
Standing Calf Raise	4	10–15

Shoulders

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Overhead Press	4	6–10
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	4	12–20
Reverse Pec Deck	3	12–20
Cable Lateral Raise	2	12–20
Face Pull	3	12–20

Arms

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Curl	3	8–12
Close Grip Bench Press	3	6–10
Incline Dumbbell Curl	3	10–12
Rope Triceps Pushdown	3	10–15
Hammer Curl	2	10–15
Cable Overhead Triceps Extension	2	10–15

Weekly sets per muscle

Counted the way Musclist counts them: a full set for the muscle an exercise mainly trains, half a set for each muscle that helps.

Muscle	Sets per week
Triceps	17
Chest	16.5
Biceps	16
Front delts	14
Upper back	12.5
Lats	12
Quads	10
Forearms	9
Traps	7.5
Rear delts	7
Hamstrings	6
Side delts	6
Calves	5.5
Glutes	5
Adductors	3.5
Lower back	1.5

How to progress

Use double progression on every exercise: keep the weight until you reach the top of the rep range on every set, then add the smallest step your equipment allows.

Each muscle is trained hard once a week, so push the last set of each exercise close to failure. You have a full week to recover.

Every 6 to 8 weeks, take an easier week with half the sets.

Run it in Musclist

In the app, open My routine and add one workout for each day: Chest, Back, Legs, Shoulders, and Arms, with the exercises in the order above. Musclist then suggests the next workout every time, starts each exercise from last time’s weight and reps, and shows the muscles you trained after each session. The app keeps the exercises and their order, not the sets and reps, so keep this page handy for those.

Questions

Is a bro split bad?

No. Training each muscle once a week with lots of sets works, as long as the weekly sets are there. Training each muscle twice a week tends to work a little better for the same sets, which is why Push Pull Legs and Upper / Lower are popular.

Which order should the days go in?

This order keeps muscles that work together apart. Chest and shoulders are three days apart, so your front delts have recovered from pressing, and arms come last, a few days after the chest and back sessions that also work them. Then two rest days.

Where is the ab training?

Add two or three sets of an ab exercise, like hanging leg raises or cable crunches, to the end of any two sessions.

Other programs

Not sure which one? Read How to choose a workout split.