If you want to increase muscle mass and strength, you may have come across recommendations for 6-day workout routines.
Working out 6 days a week is no joke. While it can give you the desired results, it could also go wrong, with more drawbacks than benefits to your physical and mental health.
Before you dedicate yourself to such an exercise program, take a minute to educate yourself more on the 6-day gym workout schedule.
Read on to learn:
Also known as a 6-day split routine, a 6-day gym workout schedule is an exercise program that requires you to exercise 6 out of the 7 days of the week.
Intermediate or advanced exercisers who wish to build muscle mass might follow this schedule.
Multiple studies have looked at the effects of split workout routines – especially regarding their efficacy in comparison to full-body workouts (1, 2, 3).
But ultimately, the most successful workout split comes down to an individual’s goals.
Below, we compiled some of the most popular workout splits. Find the one that works for your lifestyle and that you can commit to going forward.
In this routine, you train the major muscles in your body, i.e., the core, upper body, and lower body (legs) in a single workout session.
We recommend this traditional 3-day split for beginners because it’s the most common full-body split for this demographic:
If you want to lose weight and fat, research suggests a full-body resistance training split works better and promotes more significant fat loss than a split routine (4).
Aside from calorie burning and fat loss, full-body splits are also time efficient, which can be great for busy people.
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If you are looking for a 3-day split workout routine or a 6-day gym workout schedule to build muscle, then the push/pull/legs (aka PPL) routine could be best for you.
A typical PPL routine on a 3-day split looks like this:
Monday – Push Exercises.
Wednesday – Pull Exercises
Friday – Lower Body/Legs
Please Note
To use this split for a 6-day workout schedule for man or a 6-day workout schedule women, you must do pushing, pulling, and leg workouts twice a week.
For example:
The main rule of the PPL split is to never work the same muscle groups twice in a row.
For example, if you follow a 6-day workout schedule for muscle mass using push/pull/legs, do not do pushing exercises on Monday and Tuesday or leg workouts on Friday and Saturday. Always allow at least 1 day for the muscle groups to avoid overtraining.
The push/pull/leg split breaks the upper body workouts in two.
However, the upper/lower split lets you train all upper body muscles at once.
For example, you can push and pull workouts in the same workout session.
A typical upper body/lower body split is a 4-day split where you train the upper and lower body muscles twice a week on different days as follows:
Because of the simplicity of the upper/lower split, it’s very easy to modify from a 4-day lifting program into a 6-day gym workout schedule for weight loss and muscle gain.
For this split, you can use any workouts mentioned in the push/pull/leg sections. Simply combine the push and pull workouts for upper body day.
Note That:
The 6-day split is not just for weightlifters. If you prefer bodyweight workouts, opt for a 6-day calisthenics routine.
You can split your calisthenics routine in any of the 3 ways mentioned above:
The only difference between you and those who lift is that you rely on little to no equipment. Instead of physical weights for your resistance, you use your body weight for the resistance.
Read more: What Is The Fastest Way To Get Toned?
It depends on your fitness levels and the ultimate goal that you want to accomplish through exercising.
Are you training to become an elite-level bodybuilder?
6 days a week might be your best option to ensure you target all your muscles.
Are you new to exercise or find it challenging to find time to exercise throughout the week?
A 3-5 day weekly plan might be a better option because consistency will be one of the most critical factors in seeing change in your body.
A 6-day workout schedule has its downsides; a major one is that it can be too much for most people, especially beginners. Pushing your body is good, but doing too much can be detrimental. Your muscles grow when they rest, and insufficient rest periods can lead to injury.
As a beginner, we recommend working out 3-5 days a week. Let the intermediate and advanced exercisers/lifters take on the challenge of a 6-day workout program.
As mentioned above, it depends on the person and their fitness experience.
Such a routine is likely too much for beginners. However, more experienced persons at the intermediate or advanced level may have an easier time with such a schedule.
It ultimately comes down to your individual goals.
The consensus is that you need 1-2 weekly rest days, whether you are working out for weight loss or muscle growth. However, you can push even further and have 3 rest days a week.
These rest day calculations derive from statements found in a study published in 2018, where researchers recommend resistance training 2-3 days a week with the exercises performed 48-72 hours apart (5).
Remember that a rest day does not need to be a day on the couch.
It can be a day of light activity such as walking or stretching.
But if you want to take a full day on the couch to rest, then do it! For days like that, try to focus on hitting some of your other fitness goals. These could be simple, like hitting your daily water or protein intake.
Overtraining is a condition that occurs when a person does an excessive amount of exercise without enough rest, which is essential for muscle repair and recovery.
Some symptoms you should watch out for so you can know if you are experiencing the condition include (6, 7):
Read more: Military Calisthenics Workout: Building Strength, Endurance, and Agility with Bodyweight Exercises
A specific gym schedule or workout plan will not work perfectly for everyone.
If you are considering starting any fitness program, here are some things that you should consider:
As mentioned several times above, some routines are not the best for beginners; thus, if you are just starting your fitness journey, pace yourself. Start with 3-4 days; over time, you can work up to 6 days a week.
A 6-day gym workout schedule may sound good, but is it applicable to your life?
This 6-day workout week is an intense routine that requires ample dedication.
If you can’t make it to the gym this many times a week, go back to the drawing board and find something that works better.
Remember, your routine should fit seamlessly into your life; otherwise, you are likely to fall off the program and not meet your goals.
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Rest is vital for muscle growth. Without it, you are likely to risk the above-mentioned symptoms of overtraining. Be honest and see if you can rest and recover within 24 hours.
Do you prefer a full-body routine, a push/pull/legs split, or an upper-body/lower-body split? Refer back to the ‘splits section’ above and write down the pros and cons of each split. Pick the one that, in your opinion, has the most benefits for your overall goals.
The former uses multiple muscles and joints simultaneously, while the latter only focuses on one muscle group at a time.
Compound exercises can be more efficient (which is excellent for those who don’t have much time to work out). In contrast, isolation exercises focus more on muscle activation and thus may mean more muscle hypertrophy.
Take a look at your overall goals and see which of these two works best.
A 6-day gym workout schedule is an intense program you should never take lightly.
Instead of jumping into it, take a minute and consider your current fitness level, lifestyle, overall goals, and how much rest you truly need to recover. If all these factors align with a 6-day program, consider choosing any of the 3 workout splits mentioned above and work towards your goals.
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