5-Day Body Part Split: how it works
Five days a week, one muscle group a day: chest, back, legs, shoulders, arms. Lots of sets for each muscle, once a week.
Who it suits
Lifters who enjoy long, focused sessions on one area and can train five days. It’s the classic bodybuilding week.
How the week runs
Five days on, two off (e.g. Monday to Friday): chest, back, legs, shoulders, arms. Each day opens with a heavy compound lift, then moves to machines, cables and dumbbells.
How to progress
Each muscle only gets one session a week, so make it count: go hard on every working set and beat last week by a rep or a little weight.
MaxLift suggests each set’s weight from your last session, and adjusts the next set after every set you log: short of the target reps, it drops; well over, it goes up.
Tips
- If one area is lagging, move its day to Monday, when you’re freshest.
- Missing a day means that muscle waits two weeks, so shift the week rather than skipping.