What Is The Best Bodybuilding Training Routine?

As of 2024...

As of 2024, many training routines were born and venerated in the bodybuilding world. Some of them are scientifically backed up, some of them are funnier, and some of them are "classics" of bodybuilding, but all of them ultimately work at building muscle.

But here, the infamous question comes, "Which one is the best to build muscle". I don't have a specific answer for this as most people's bodies are different, but I can offer you my personal guidance on which one is the best, at least in my opinion, for bodybuilding.

So, let's begin by presenting the main training routines most people use.

Push, Pull, Legs

The first one I want to present is the most famous these days, the Push Pull Leg training split. The Push Pull Leg is a training split that is apparently "scientifically optimal" because it enables you to work a muscle group twice a week, so the frequency of work is higher and therefore one more principle of muscle growth is put in your favor.

On Push days you work your chest, triceps, and front/lateral shoulders, on Pull days you work your back, biceps, and your rear deltoids (shoulder), and on Leg days, you work your legs as a whole. I'm not speaking about the 3-day Push-Pull-Leg split, right now I'm speaking about the 6-day Push-Pull Leg split, meaning you repeat it twice a week.

ADVANTAGES: you get to work a muscle group twice a week, you can be sure to have twice more chance to progressively overload, you can add more training volume (number of sets per week and exercise) probably and, if you love sports, you can train six times a week.

DISADVANTAGES: Even tho it's "scientifically" optimal, not having a direct arm day will probably not maximize your growth potential for your arms, and as a general rule of thumb Push Pull Legs can cause a lot of fatigue if heavy squats and heavy deadlifts are performed regularly on Leg days for example. On top of that, training six times a week can prove to be too long and easily tiresome for some individuals.

The "Bro Split"

The "Bro Split" is a 5-day bodybuilding training split. It focuses on building one specific part of your body at a time. Instead of focusing on many muscle groups in one single session like in the Push-Pull-Legs split, the Bro Split enables you to focus on one body part at a time.

It's great for getting good pumps and generally, it's great for muscle growth. If you look at the vast majority of jacked guys, people with huge arms or a great physique generally, the majority of them are on a Bro Split. Even tho it's not scientifically "optimal" to train a muscle only once a week for muscle growth, it seems to work pretty well for most people.

On the first day of a bro-split, you work your chest, the second day your back, the third day your legs, the fourth day your arms, and the fifth day your shoulders. You can mix the order around.

ADVANTAGES: The Bro Split enables you to focus on one muscle group at a time. Instead of dividing your attention to many other muscle groups in one session, its efficiency enables you to truly destroy one body part and move on to the next the next day. On top of that, it has two rest days and this enables you to recover better. I always was on a Push-Pull-Leg split and made good progress but I'm soon going to move over to the Bro Split to truly upgrade my physique.

DISADVANTAGES: The disadvantages of the bro-split are that you're not working a muscle twice a week, that sessions might be longer and are therefore more intense because most of us are pressed by time so we've got to fit in more sets and less rest time.

The "Arnold Split"

The "Arnold Split" is a 6-day bodybuilding training split. Like a Push-Pull-Legs, it works multiple body parts per session, except for legs. But, to the difference of a Push-Pull-Legs split, it actually works for the most part antagonizing muscle groups. For example, on the first day, you train your back and chest, on the second day you train your arms and shoulders, and on the third day, you train your legs. Rinse and repeat once more for the complete program.

The only problem with this split is that the sheer amount of volume per session (doing back and chest or arms and shoulders can take HOURS) makes it for most people unbearable to follow in the long term. It can be fun in the short term but even in the short term, if you're not a PED-enhanced giant, you'll probably struggle to keep your performance up after 2 hours of weight-lifting.

The "Arnold Split" is named after the famous old California governor, athlete, and author as well as actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, probably the most famous bodybuilder in the world as of the date of this writing. He used many bodybuilding splits but this one was the one he was particularly using and that became famous, to the point it got named after him.

ADVANTAGES: It enables you to work your muscles twice a week which is "scientifically optimal" and it's good to change up things and to train antagonizing muscle groups.

DISADVANTAGES: Too much volume of sets and exercise per session and therefore too much time spent in the gym. 2 hours every day six times a week becomes quite redundant. On top of that, if you add extra forearm or calves or neck work or any other forgotten muscle-group work, it can really tire you out easily. It simply produces too much work and fatigue for not enough rest, for a natural bodybuilder at least.

The Upper/Lower Split

The Upper/Lower Split is a very flexible training split. In fact, the Upper/Lower split is composed of two days: an upper day where you work your muscle groups in your upper body and a lower day where you train your muscle groups in your lower body. Therefore, since there are only two days (upper and lower), you can make it a 2-day training split, a 4-day training split, or even a 6-day training split.

For example, on the first day, you work your Back, Biceps, Shoulders, Chest, Triceps, and Forearms, and on the second day, you work your Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Calves, and Abs. If you do it six times a week you don't need too much volume per muscle group of sets or exercises per training session because you train each muscle group three times a week.

ADVANTAGES: It's easy to understand and fit into one lifestyle. It's accessible to everyone and it's easy to use. It's good for beginners. And, generally, if repeated six times a week, it enables you to train your muscles three times a week which is very good for muscle growth (higher frequency of training per muscle)

DISADVANTAGES: If not repeated six times a week, the sessions might be too long if you want to fit "optimal volume of sets per week" inside of them. It could last two hours or even more on upper days if you only train twice a week or four times a week. It's just not the best choice when you have training programs such as the PPL split (Push-Pull-Leg) or the Bro split around.

The Full Body Split

The Full Body Split is also a very versatile and flexible training split. It consists of training your whole body, and generally, it is a 3-day training split. However, once more, you can upgrade it to a six-day training split, or a 4-day one, or a 2-day one, or a 6-day one. However, the best would be to stick with a 3-day split so you can separate each day with rest days.

This is because a full body split will work all of your muscles in one session, or the vast majority of them, meaning, if you train full body six times a week, you'll be easily overworked.

Even tho this split is great, it's not the one I recommend, especially for bodybuilding. It's often recommended for beginners and it might work fine or even very well, but I recommend a Bro split or a PPL split.

ADVANTAGES: It's easy to understand and fit into one's lifestyle. It's accessible for everyone and it's easy to use, just like the Upper/Lower split. It's good for beginners.

DISADVANTAGES: Too much volume of sets per week or exercise required or too much time spent at the gym. Also, generally, if you do it more than three times a week you would risk overtraining, and it's just not as effective as other training splits. Other training splits are better.

Which one should I choose then?

If you're asking the question above, the training program I believe you should choose is either a Bro-split or a Push-Pull-Legs split. If you want me to make a choice for you, go with the Bro-split.

The thing with the Bro-split is that the vast majority of jacked guys I've seen on this earth are not on Push-Pull-Legs. Most of them are on a Bro-split or some sort of variant. Look at every pro-bodybuilder and most of them are on a bro-split.

Yes, they might be using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) but even naturals grow well using a Bro-split. One good example is Hamza Ahmed. This guy is jacked, and he is on a bro-split. And, he is natural! And not only that, just as a general rule of thumb, even tho it's not optimal it's way funnier to do a bro-split than a push-pull-legs split, and actually wanting and being happy to workout will help you push harder.

Think about it, would you push harder if you were excited to go to the gym to smash a workout or would you push harder if you were going to the gym with the "oh no, not again" mindset of doing a boring Push-Pull-Legs split?

Now, don't get me wrong, the Push-Pull-Legs split is great and it's what gave me an incredible physique at first. However, I still have to make progress, and the PPL split just doesn't do it anymore for me. It's just not as good as it used to be, I feel like whatever exercise I choose I stagnate in muscle growth, and I feel like my arms are a bit "late behind", one thing that could be fixed by training them directly in a bro-split. Now sure, you could train them first during your push and pull days, but this will affect your performance, compared to a bro split where you train the other muscles independently.

But generally go with a program that you feel is fun. We're trying to be or we are for some of us high-performers, and high-performers don't have much instant gratification or "degenerate fun" in life (they don't drink too much, smoke, take drugs, party, etc) and therefore, one of the big ways to have fun for us is in our training and in the progress we make in life (which is 100% more fun than degenerates lives). And, if our training becomes boring because of a split that we don't enjoy anymore, we lose the motivation, we lose the fun of doing sports.

Now sure, discipline is more important than motivation, but being motivated will help you push harder and practice more intense workouts which will in turn help you get better results anyway.

You'll still have to push yourself, you'll still have un-motivated bad days, you'll still sometimes shy away from going to full muscular failure, you'll still struggle walking after leg days, and, most days, discipline will override motivation, but by being motivated you simply are happier and it just feels better and healthier for you, and you probably get better results anyway because you push yourself harder.

So why not be motivated? What's wrong with that?

Conclusion

Remember fundamentally that the best training split is the one you can follow consistently on a weekly basis. It's the one you can do for a long, long time. It's the one that fits your lifestyle. Because yes, you could use the "perfectly" optimal workout plan made by a profesional bodybuilding coach, but if you only do it for two weeks, it'll be for nothing.

So, find a program that fits you, and then see if you can make that program a Bro-split or a PPL split, since, at least in my opinion, these two are the best training splits in terms of the advantages they offer compared to the disadvantages.

And, if you're starting, simply learn to weight-lift, and then bother about Bro-split or PPL, even tho I recommend getting on a Bro-split as soon as possible as you'll make good progress. But, focus on the fundamentals before trying to optimize anything.

Finally, thank you for reading. I hope this article was of help to you, and I'll see you next time.

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