Muscle Group Workouts: How to Optimize Your Training Splits

Exercise Instructions

Barbell Bench Press

1. Lie flat on the bench, your feet planted securely on the floor.
2. Grip the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, your wrists stacked directly above your elbows.
3. Unrack the bar and stabilize it over your chest with your arms extended.
4. Lower the bar with control until it touches your mid-chest, your elbows tracking at about a 45-degree angle.
5. Press the bar upward while exhaling, keeping your shoulder blades retracted.
6. Lock your arms out at the top without allowing your shoulders to rise off the bench.

Bent-Over Barbell Row

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and grip the barbell with an overhand grip, just outside your knees.
2. Hinge at your hips with a slight knee bend, keeping your back straight and your chest up until your torso is nearly parallel to the floor.
3. Brace your core and pull the barbell toward your lower chest, keeping your elbows close to your body.
4. Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top.
5. Lower the bar to full arm extension with control and repeat.

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

1. Sit on a bench with back support, your feet flat on the ground.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, your palms facing forward.
3. Press both dumbbells directly overhead until your arms are fully extended, but not locked out.
4. Lower the weights back to shoulder height with control.
5. Maintain an upright torso and avoid arching your lower back throughout the movement.

Pull-Ups (or Lat Pulldowns)

1. Pull-Up: Grab a pull-up bar with your palms facing away from you, your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Hang fully extended, then pull your chest toward the bar by engaging your back and arms.
3. Keep your body straight and lead with your chest – your chin should clear the bar at the top.
4. Lower to a full hang with control.
   • Lat pulldown: Sit at the machine, grip the bar wide, pull the bar to your upper chest while squeezing your shoulder blades, then release slowly.

Dumbbell Bicep Curls

1. Stand upright with a dumbbell in each hand, your arms extended at your sides and your palms facing forward.
2. Keep your upper arms stationary and bend your elbows to curl the weights up to shoulder height.
3. Squeeze your biceps, then lower the dumbbells back down slowly.
4. Keep your core braced and avoid swinging your body.

Triceps Pushdowns

1. Stand facing a cable machine, your feet hip-width apart.
2. Grasp a straight or angled bar with an overhand grip, your hands shoulder-width apart.
3. Keeping your elbows close to your torso, push the bar down until your arms are fully extended.
4. Pause, then return slowly to the starting position, your elbows stationary.

Barbell Back Squat

1. Position the barbell on your upper traps, your grip slightly wider than shoulder-width.
2. Step back, keeping your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes turned slightly outward.
3. Inhale, brace your core, and bend your hips and knees to lower yourself until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor.
4. Drive through your heels to stand, fully extending your hips and knees.
5. Keep your chest up and your knees tracking over your toes throughout.

Romanian Deadlift

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, a barbell in front of you held with an overhand grip.
2. Keep your knees soft and hinge at your hips to lower the bar down your thighs.
3. Maintain a flat back and lower until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings (just below your knees or mid-shin).
4. Drive your hips forward to stand tall, keeping the bar close to your body throughout.

Leg Press

1. Sit on the leg press machine, your feet hip-width apart on the platform.
2. Unrack the carriage, lower it toward your chest by bending your knees and hips to at least 90 degrees.
3. Press the platform away by extending your knees and hips fully (avoid locking your knees).
4. Control the descent and repeat.

Seated Calf Raises

1. Sit on a calf raise machine, the balls of your feet on the footplate.
2. Release the safety and lower your heels as far as is comfortable.
3. Press through the balls of your feet to lift the weight as high as possible.
4. Pause at the top, then lower slowly.

Hanging Leg Raises

1. Hang from a pull-up bar with your arms fully extended and your legs straight.
2. Brace your core and lift your legs by flexing at the hips, keeping your legs straight or slightly bent, raising them to hip height or higher.
3. Lower your legs under control back to the start position.

Incline Dumbbell Press

1. Lie on an incline bench, dumbbells at shoulder height, your palms facing forward.
2. Press the weights upward above your chest, your elbows extended, but not locked.
3. Lower the dumbbells to your upper chest with control.
4. Keep your feet flat and maintain contact with the bench throughout.

Seated Cable Row

1. Sit at a cable row station, your feet secured against the platform.
2. Grip the handle with your arms extended and your torso upright.
3. Pull the handle toward your torso, your elbows tracking close to your body.
4. Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the end range.
5. Extend your arms fully to return to the start.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

1. Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, your palms facing in.
2. Raise both dumbbells outward horizontally to shoulder height, your elbows slightly bent.
3. Pause, then lower the weights with control.
4. Avoid shrugging your shoulders or swinging the weights.

Face Pulls

1. Attach a rope to a high cable pulley.
2. Grasp the rope ends with both hands and step back to create tension.
3. Pull the rope toward your upper chest and face, your elbows flared out.
4. Squeeze your upper back and rear delts at the end.
5. Return to the start with control.

Preacher Curls

1. Sit at a preacher curl bench, your upper arms resting on the pad.
2. Hold a straight bar or dumbbells with an underhand grip.
3. Curl the weight toward your shoulders, keeping your upper arms fixed.
4. Squeeze your biceps, then lower the weight until your elbows are nearly extended.

Overhead Triceps Extension

1. Sit or stand, holding a dumbbell with both hands overhead (grip one end).
2. Keep your elbows close to your head and your arms vertical.
3. Lower the dumbbell behind your head by flexing your elbows.
4. Extend your elbows to return to the start, keeping your upper arms stationary.

Leg Curls

1. Adjust a lying or seated leg curl machine to fit your height.
2. Position your legs under the pad, your knees aligned with the pivot point.
3. Flex your knees to pull the pad toward your glutes.
4. Lower the weight under control to full extension.

Dumbbell Lunges

1. Stand upright, holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides.
2. Step forward with one leg and lower your body until your front thigh is parallel to the ground and your rear knee almost touches the floor.
3. Press through your front heel to return to standing.
4. Alternate legs for each rep.

Standing Calf Raises

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart on a calf raise machine or step, the balls of your feet on the platform.
2. Lower your heels below the step for a full stretch.
3. Push through your forefeet, rising onto your toes as high as possible.
4. Pause briefly, then lower slowly.

Ab Crunches

1. Lie on your back, your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
2. Cross your arms over your chest or lightly touch your temples.
3. Engage your core and lift your upper back off the floor, moving your ribcage toward your pelvis.
4. Pause, then lower yourself back down with control.

If you’re curious about different ways to group your workouts, check out our article on what muscle groups to work out together.

Which Muscles Should You Train Every Day?

For most people, it’s not advisable to train the same major muscle groups every day. Muscles grow during recovery, and daily training prevents this process from occurring effectively. Constant training can lead to:

• Overtraining 
• Increased injury risk 
• Diminished returns

However, there are exceptions:

The Core

Your core muscles (abdominals, obliques, lower back) are endurance-based and recover relatively quickly (17, 18). They are designed to provide stability throughout the day. Performing a few sets of core exercises daily or every other day is generally safe and effective. A comprehensive core program is an excellent supplement to any training plan.

Calves

As with the core, the calves are composed of a high percentage of slow-twitch, endurance-oriented muscle fibers (19). They’re used to carrying your body weight all day and can handle higher training frequency. Training them 3-4 times a week could possibly be more effective than once or twice (20).

Skill-Based Practice

For beginners, strength is largely a skill. Practicing a movement such as the squat with very light weight or just your body weight every day can help improve neuromuscular coordination and technique without causing excessive fatigue (21).

For hypertrophy of larger muscle groups such as the chest, back, and quads, training them 2-3 times per week with at least 48 hours of rest could allow a great amount of quality volume (17).

Read more: 2 Full-Body Workouts a Week: The Definitive Science-Backed Guide

What’s a Good Workout Schedule to Build Muscle?

A good workout schedule for building muscle balances training frequency, volume, and recovery. The optimal schedule depends heavily on your lifestyle and experience.

3-Day Full-Body Routine

This is ideal for beginners or those with limited time. It involves training your entire body three times a week on non-consecutive days (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, Friday). This frequency is enough to stimulate growth while providing ample recovery. A full-body circuit workout is an excellent option here.

4-Day Upper/Lower Split

A great option for intermediate lifters. You train your upper body twice a week and your lower body twice a week (e.g. Mon: upper, Tues: lower, Thurs: upper, Fri: lower). This allows for more volume per muscle group than a full-body routine.

5-Day Body Part Split

It’s common among advanced lifters and bodybuilders. Each day is dedicated to one or two muscle groups (e.g. day 1: chest, day 2: back, day 3: legs, day 4: shoulders, day 5: arms). This allows for maximum volume and intensity for each muscle group, but requires more recovery time between sessions for the same muscle.

6-Day Push/Pull/Legs (PPL) Split

This is for advanced trainees who can recover quickly. The schedule is push, pull, legs, rest, and then repeat. This hits each muscle group twice a week with high volume. This is one of the best muscle group combinations to work out together 6-day programs.

What’s The Best Muscle Split?

Remember, the “best” schedule is the one you can adhere to. Consistency is more important than finding the “perfect” split. Listen to your body – if you feel constantly fatigued, sore, or your performance is declining, you may need more rest days.

To learn more about the best pairings, read our guide to muscle groups to work together.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the hardest muscle group to train?

Objectively, there isn’t a “hardest” muscle group, as difficulty is subjective. However, many people find their calves and forearms challenging to grow due to their high composition of slow-twitch muscle fibers, which ​​may have a lower ceiling for muscle hypertrophy. (22). Large muscle groups such as the legs can also be considered “hard” to train due to the high systemic fatigue generated by compound exercises such as squats and deadlifts.

Research has suggested that these muscles respond best to a range of loads.

If your goal is simply to maximize overall muscle mass, exercise prescriptions should include training across a wide spectrum of repetition ranges. Higher-intensity exercise seems necessary to fully stimulate fast-twitch fiber growth, while lower-intensity exercise preferentially enhances hypertrophy in slow-twitch fibers. A periodized approach combining high- and low-intensity training may help ensure an optimal hypertrophic response in the full continuum of fiber types.

• Can I train my chest and biceps together?

Yes, you can train chest and biceps together. This is a common pairing in body-part splits, often referred to as a “push-pull” variation within the same session or for aesthetic reasons (getting a pump in the arms after training the chest). As the biceps aren’t heavily involved in most chest exercises (12), pre-fatiguing one won’t significantly impact the other.

• Which muscles take the longest to grow?

Muscles with a higher proportion of slow-twitch fibers, including the calves and forearms, often take longer to show significant growth than muscles with more fast-twitch fibers (22), such as the hamstrings or chest. 

In addition, large and complex muscle groups such as the back may seem to take longer to develop as they consist of many individual muscles that all need to be targeted for a well-rounded look.

• Which muscles recover the slowest?

Larger muscle groups that are subjected to the most mechanical damage and neural demand during heavy compound lifting tend to recover the slowest. The muscles of the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings, which are heavily taxed during deadlifts and squats, often require more recovery time than smaller muscle groups such as the biceps or deltoids. Research indicates that the lower limbs generally experience more fatigue and take longer to recover than the upper limbs (20).

The Bottom Line

Ultimately, designing a muscle group workout plan is both a science and an art. The scientific principles of progressive overload, fatigue management, and stimulus specificity provide the foundation. The art lies in tailoring these principles to your unique body, lifestyle, and goals. Start with a structured plan, track your progress, and don’t be afraid to adjust as you learn what works best for you.