Monday to Friday Gym Workout Plan: 5 Day Schedule

If you want to lift five straight days, Monday to Friday, with no cardio-only days and no training on the weekends, here are four different workout plans you can use to build muscle and get stronger.

Should you lift weights five days straight? Or is it better to have a rest day for every 2-3 days of hard training?

As long as your workout schedule is set up properly, there’s no reason why you can’t lift weights five days a week, Monday to Friday.

In some studies, subjects who trained the same muscle groups 3 or 6 days a week made very similar gains in size and strength.

If you can train the same muscles six days a week and still make gains, there’s no good reason why you can’t do five straight days of lifting, hitting the same muscle groups 2-3 times a week.

Monday to Friday Upper/Lower/Push/Pull/Legs

First up we have the upper/lower/push/pull/legs routine, which is ideal for anyone wanting to gain both muscle size and strength.

There are five different workouts in total, with each muscle group being trained twice a week.

Monday – Upper Body

• Chin-Ups 4 sets x 5-8 reps
• Bench Press 4 sets x 5-8 reps
• Bent-Over Barbell Row 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps

Tuesday – Lower Body

• Leg Press 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Romanian Deadlift 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Bulgarian Split Squat 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Standing Calf Raise 4 sets x 5-8 reps

Wednesday – Push

• Flat Bench Dumbbell Press 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Cable Crossover 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Lateral Raise 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Triceps Pushdown 3 sets x 12-15 reps

Thursday – Pull

• Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown 4 sets x 12-15 reps
• Seated Cable Row 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Bent Over Lateral Raise 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Dumbbell Curl 3 sets x 8-12 reps

Friday – Legs

• Back Squat 4 sets x 5-8 reps
• Leg Extension 3 sets x 15-20 reps
• Hip Thrust 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Seated Leg Curl 4 sets x 12-15 reps
• Standing Calf Raise 4 sets x 15-20 reps

Monday to Friday Upper/Lower Split

The 5-day upper/lower split works well for intermediate and advanced lifters who need more volume to keep the gains coming.

The default version of the upper/lower split involves lifting weights four days a week, with each muscle group being worked twice a week.

In the 5-day version, you do three upper and two lower body workouts in the first week. This switches round the following week, where you do two upper and three lower body workouts.

Here’s what the first week looks like:

Monday – Upper Body Workout A

• Bench Press 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Wide Grip Lat Pulldown 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Seated Row 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Overhead Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Incline Curl 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Triceps Pressdown 3 sets x 8-12 reps

Tuesday – Lower Body Workout A

• Squat 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Romanian Deadlift 3 sets x 8-12 reps 
• Leg Extension 3 sets x 12-15 reps 
• Seated Leg Curl 3 sets x 8-12 reps 
• Standing Calf Raise 4 sets x 5-8 reps

Wednesday – Upper Body Workout B

• Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Chin-up OR Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown 3 sets x 8-12 reps *
• Dumbbell Flyes 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Dumbell Row 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Lateral Raise 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Standing Dumbbell Curl 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Lying EZ Bar Triceps Extension 3 sets x 12-15 reps

* If you’re doing chin-ups, just do as many good reps as possible in each set.

Thursday – Lower Body Workout B

• Deadlift 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Leg Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Bulgarian Split Squat 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Lying/Seated Leg Curl 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Seated Calf Raise 4 sets x 12-15 reps

Friday – Upper Body Workout A

• Bench Press 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Wide Grip Lat Pulldown 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Seated Row 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Overhead Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Incline Curl 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Triceps Pressdown 3 sets x 8-12 reps

In the second week you switch things around, with Monday’s workout hitting the lower body, Tuesday’s workout hitting the upper body, and so on.

Monday to Friday Arnold Split

The Arnold split is a body part split that involves training your chest and back, shoulders and arms, and legs on separate days.

The default version of the Arnold split has you doing each workout twice a week, meaning that you’re training six times a week.

However, if building your upper body is high on your list of priorities, and you’re happy to accept a slower rate of growth in your lower body (or even just to maintain size and strength in your legs), the 5-day version of the Arnold split involves just one leg day a week.

Monday – Chest/Back A

• Flat Bench Press 4 sets x 5-8 reps
• Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Push Ups 3 sets x As Many Reps As Possible
• Single-Arm Dumbbell Row 4 sets of 5-8 reps
• Dumbbell Flyes 4 sets x 12-15 reps

Tuesday – Shoulders/Arms A

• Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Lateral Raise 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• V-Bar Triceps Pressdown 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Standing Dumbbell Curl 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Overhead Triceps Extension 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Hammer Curl 3 sets x 12-15 reps

Wednesday – Legs

• Barbell Squat 4 sets x 5-8 reps
• Leg Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Leg Extension 2 sets x 12-15 reps
• Seated Leg Curl 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Romanian Deadlift 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Standing Calf Raise 4 sets x 5-8 reps

Thursday – Chest/Back B

• Neutral Grip Pull-ups 4 sets x As Many Reps As Possible
• Incline Dumbbell Press 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Seated Cable Row 4 sets of 8-12 reps
• Cable Crossover 4 sets x 12-15 reps
• Wide Grip Front Lat Pulldown 3 sets x 8-12 reps

Friday – Shoulders/Arms B

• Barbell Press 4 sets x 5-8 reps
• Face Pulls 3 sets x 15-20 reps
• Rope Triceps Pressdown 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Curl 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Lying EZ Bar Triceps Extension 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Dumbbell Preacher Curl 3 sets x 12-15 reps

You also have the option of combining the Arnold Split with a push/pull/legs routine to create a PPL x Arnold Split hybrid. More info is here.

Monday to Friday Push/Pull Split

A push/pull workout routine is a 5-day workout split that’s ideal for people who don’t like leg days. 

Rather than devote an entire workout to your lower body (as you would do with an upper/lower or Arnold split), you do a little bit of leg work every time you train.

That is, the push day workouts involve some exercises that focus on your quads, such as the squat, while the pull day workouts will include some work for your hamstrings, like the leg curl.

The default version of the push/pull split involves training four times a week. But with the 5-day version, you do three push and two pull workouts in the first week. Then in week two, you do two push and three pull workouts.

Monday – Push Day Workout A

• Squat 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Bench Press 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Leg Press 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Press 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Lying EZ Bar Triceps Extension 3 sets x 10-15 reps

Tuesday – Pull Day Workout A

• Seated Leg Curl 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Wide Grip Front Lat Pulldown 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Romanian Deadlift 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Seated Cable Row 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Face Pull 3 sets x 15-20 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Curl 3 sets x 8-12 reps

Wednesday – Push Day Workout B

• Leg Press 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Push-ups 3 sets x 20-40 reps
• Bulgarian Split Squat 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Cable Crossover 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Lateral Raise 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension 3 sets x 10-15 reps

Thursday – Pull Day Workout B

• Romanian Deadlift 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Single-Arm Dumbbell Row 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Lying OR Seated Leg Curl 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Close-Grip Underhand Lat Pulldown 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Seated Bent-Over Lateral Raise 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Dumbbell Preacher Curl 3 sets x 10-15 reps

Friday – Push Day Workout A

• Squat 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Bench Press 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Leg Press 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Press 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Lying EZ Bar Triceps Extension 3 sets x 10-15 reps

How to Warm Up

The number of sets listed are the actual work sets only, and don’t include warm-up sets.

It’s always a good idea, especially if you’re using heavy weights, to do several progressively heavier warm-up sets. This will prepare the joints, the muscles and the nervous system that controls those muscles for the heavy work to come.

In most cases, somewhere between 1-3 warm-up sets will do the job. However, the exact number of warm-up sets you do will vary depending on a number of factors, including the temperature of the gym you’re training in, how your joints feel, the amount of weight you’re lifting, and where that exercise is placed in the workout.

There have been times when I’ve been training in a cold gym, it’s early in the morning and my joints are feeling a bit stiff, where I’ve ended up doing 7-8 warm-up sets before getting into the heavy stuff.

On the flip side, with some of the exercises that come later in the workout, the muscles being worked are already warm, so you won’t need many, if any, warm-up sets.

What about stretching?

In most cases, there’s very little benefit in stretching, be it dynamic or static, as part of a warm-up.

While the adverse effects of stretching on strength and power have been exaggerated, most studies show that pre-exercise stretching does little for injury prevention and has no beneficial effects on lifting performance.

Can you stretch as part of your warm up? Yes. Do you have to? No. It’s certainly not mandatory, and many people will do just as well without it.

You can read more about how to warm up for weight training here.

How To Progress a Monday to Friday Training Split

No matter how your training split is set up, it’s important to train hard and focus on improving your performance in the gym over time.

Do the same exercises, for the same number of sets and reps, while lifting the same amount of weight, for the next five years. Nothing much is going to happen.

That’s because the training you’re doing is a challenge your body has already adapted to. As a result, no new muscle mass will be gained.

I’m not saying you’ll make progress every time you go to the gym. To do so indefinitely would be impossible, and there’ll be times when you end up lifting the same amount of weight, for the same number of sets and reps you did before.

However, you should be pushing yourself to increase the amount of work your muscles are doing in the gym, whether that’s lifting heavier weights, doing more reps with the same weight, or doing more sets.

You need to give your muscles a reason to get bigger, or you’ll remain stuck at the same size you are right now.

So make sure to keep a training journal, write down your numbers, and always try to beat your previous workout in some way.

You’ll notice that the workouts use rep ranges, such as 5-8 or 8-12, rather than a fixed number of reps in each set.

For example, let’s say that the prescription for a particular exercise is 3 sets of 5-8 reps.

The idea is that you select a weight that allows you to perform at least 5 reps in each set, but no more than 8.

Every time you go to the gym, you try to do more reps than you did the workout before. Once you’re able to do 8 reps in every set, increase the weight for the following workout.

It’s a form of progression known as the double progression method. Here’s an example of how it might look in practice:

Workout 1

• Set 1: 100 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 2: 100 pounds x 7 reps
• Set 3: 100 pounds x 5 reps

Workout 2

• Set 1: 100 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 2: 100 pounds x 7 reps
• Set 3: 100 pounds x 7 reps

Workout 3

• Set 1: 100 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 2: 100 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 3: 100 pounds x 7 reps

Workout 4

• Set 1: 100 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 2: 100 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 3: 100 pounds x 8 reps

Workout 5

• Set 1: 105 pounds x 7 reps
• Set 2: 105 pounds x 6 reps
• Set 3: 105 pounds x 5 reps

As you can see, in workout four, once you’re able to do 8 reps in all 3 sets, you add weight in the fifth workout and repeat the cycle. 

This simple double progression method can work well for most exercises, and will produce decent gains in muscle mass over several months, just as long as you stay consistent and work hard.

It’s also important to make sure that your technique remains solid from one workout to the next. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you’ve gotten stronger, when all you’re doing is cheating on those last few reps to get the weight up.

The exact number of workouts it takes to reach this point will vary from person to person, and from exercise to exercise.

It might take 10 workouts or it might take 5. But wait until you can do 3 sets of 8 reps before adding weight.

Can You Do a 5-day Full-Body Workout Split?

Is doing a full-body workout 5 days in a row a viable approach to building muscle?

To most people, the idea sounds completely outrageous.

Working the same muscle groups Monday through Friday is just going to wreck your joints, make your muscles shrink, and leave you overtrained and burned out.

However, there’s some interesting research to show the idea isn’t as crazy as you might think.

In one study, Brazilian researchers found that hitting a muscle group five times a week actually delivered significantly greater gains in muscle thickness compared to a more conventional bro split routine.

Subjects taking part in the study, all of whom had been lifting weights three days a week for at least 12 months, were assigned to one of two groups.

The first group did a full-body workout every day, Monday through Friday, hitting each muscle group five times per week. Saturday and Sunday were rest days.

The second group followed a more conventional 5-day split that involved working a muscle once or twice each week.

Lifters in the full-body group saw significantly greater gains in muscle thickness, measured using ultrasound, in both the biceps and quadriceps.

The full-body group also gained nearly twice as much muscle in the triceps compared to the split group, although the difference wasn’t statistically significant.

High frequency training hasn’t produced a faster rate of muscle growth every time it’s been tested, and it’s certainly not suitable for everyone, for the reasons I explain here.

But it’s one of those things I’d put in the “worth a try” category, especially if you’ve got a few years of serious training behind you and the gains are proving increasingly hard to come by.

You can read more about the subject of high-frequency training and muscle growth here.

How to Train for Muscle Growth

Any training program designed for muscle growth should be based on these six key principles.

1. Use a variety of exercises. Using different exercises for the same muscle group leads to more complete development compared to doing the same exercise all the time. If all you do is a handful of compound lifts, you’re almost certainly leaving gains on the table

2. Do enough sets per week. For maximum muscle growth, aim for 10-20 sets per muscle group per week, spread across 2-6 training sessions. Beginners can make impressive gains with less, while more advanced lifters may well need even more work in the gym to keep the gains coming.

3. Train in the hypertrophy rep range. To build muscle mass, most of your training should be done in the 5-20 rep range. That’s heavy enough to put plenty of tension on the muscle, but not so heavy that you can’t control the weight.

4. Get sufficient rest between sets. To recover properly from one set to the next requires upwards of 2 minutes rest. Without enough rest from one set to the other, you won’t be able to do as many reps, which has the knock on effect of reducing the stimulus for growth.

5. Train often enough. To gain muscle mass as fast as humanly possible, train each muscle 2-4 times every seven days. A muscle will still grow with less frequent training, but for optimal results you want to hit each muscle group at least twice every seven days.

6. Train with a high intensity of effort. The last 1-2 reps of every work set should be extremely difficult. Those are reps that take a muscle out of its comfort zone and make the largest contribution to muscle growth. You don’t need to take each to failure, or the point where you’re unable to complete another rep, but you want to get close.