How to Create Your Own Workout Split

There is no such thing as the best workout split. The best workout split is the one that will help you stay the most consistent and achieve your goals. For example, someone might achieve better results on a four-day split than on a five-day split or vice versa.

When creating a workout split, we must take into account our lifestyle, ability to recover, genetics, weak points, strong points, and schedule.

The split you create should aim to hit every muscle group at least once or twice a week. The current literature suggests that hitting a muscle group twice a week rather than once is more optimal, but it is completely up to your discretion.

Most common splits: Full body, Push-Pull-Legs (PPL), bro split, Upper-lower, four-day split, and creating your own.

After you have chosen your split, it is now time to choose your exercise selection.

Back

I recommend performing four to six back exercises a week. Two biasing the upper back, two biasing the lats, one biasing the rear delts (optional), and one biasing the traps (optional). If your back is a weakness, you can split your training into two sessions, one focusing on the upper back and one focusing on the lats.

Here is a sample back workout:

Iliac lat pulldown: One set of 7-10 reps
Thoracic lat cable row: One set of 7-10 reps
Chest supported T-Bar row (upper back emphasis): One set of 6-9 reps
Straight bar pulldown: One set of 7-10 reps

Chest

I recommend performing four exercises for the chest a week. Two biasing the clavicular head (upper chest), and two biasing the costal and sternal head (low and middle fibers). If your chest is a weakness, breaking your chest training into two sessions can be beneficial.

Here is a sample chest workout:

Flat dumbbell bench press: One set of 5-8 reps
Hammer strength iso lateral incline press: One set of 5-8 reps
Clavicular chest press around: One set of 8-12 reps
Costal cable press: One set of 7-10 reps

Shoulders

I recommend performing five exercises for the shoulders a week. Two biasing the anterior deltoids (front delt), two biasing the lateral deltoids, and one biasing the posterior deltoid (rear delt). If your shoulders are a weakness, I suggest hitting them twice or even three times a week for more optimal results.

Lastly, I cannot stress how important it is to perform shoulder presses and lateral raise variants in the scapular plane. You also want to make sure you are training your posterior delts with a shoulder abduction of about 45 degrees so you can fully shorten them.

Here is a sample shoulder workout:

Anterior delt press: One set of 5-8 reps
Dumbbell lateral raise: One set of 7-10 reps
Anterior delt cable raise: One set of 7-10 reps
Cable y raise: One set of 7-10 reps
Rear delt row: One set of 5-8 reps

Arms

I recommend performing four arm exercises a week—two for the biceps and two for the triceps. For the biceps, I suggest one exercise emphasizing the mid-range and one emphasizing the shortened range.

The long head makes up the majority of your triceps, so I suggest performing mostly movements that bias the long head.

Here is a sample arm workout: