What Is the Bro Split Workout Plan & Is it Right for You? | Legion

You’ve probably heard the evidence-based fitness crowd dismiss the bro split as inefficient, unscientific, and a waste of time.

Yet, bro split workout plans remain extremely popular among gymgoers, especially those new to training. 

But if training different muscle groups on different days is supposedly a fool’s errand, why do so many people swear by it?

Because the bro split is simple, enjoyable, and—when done correctly—highly effective for building muscle and strength.

The key, of course, is getting the programming right. Get it wrong, and you’ll likely spend months spinning your wheels with little to show for your effort.

In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know to make a bro split work for you. You’ll also discover how to maximize the bro split’s effectiveness and how it stacks up against other popular routines like push pull legs, full-body, and the upper lower split. 

Key Takeaways

• A bro split workout plan trains different muscle groups on separate days, which is a structure many people find simple and enjoyable.
• Some evidence-based fitness experts criticize bro splits for not training muscles frequently enough to maximize growth. But, when programmed correctly, a bro split workout routine can be highly effective for building muscle and strength.
• It works especially well for beginners because they don’t need to train each muscle group as frequently as more experienced lifters to make progress.
• The key to a successful bro split workout plan is focusing on compound exercises, doing enough sets in each workout, and applying progressive overload.
• Whether a bro split workout plan is better or worse than routines like push pull legs or upper lower depends on your goals, preferences, and circumstances.

 

What Is a Bro Split?

A bro split—also known as a body-part split—is a workout routine that trains each major muscle group (or body part) on different days of the week.

You typically train each muscle group once per week, so a 5-day bro split workout plan normally looks something like this:

Generally speaking, bro splits also involve doing a lot of sets and reps in each workout, leaving the target muscle group swollen, sore, and pumped. 

In fact, this is one of the reasons bro splits are popular. Many people are under the (false) impression that the more you train a muscle group in a single workout, the more it grows afterward. 

As you’ll learn in a moment, however, hammering a single muscle group with 6 or 10 or more exercises in a row isn’t a smart way to program a bro split workout plan.

Is the Bro Split Effective?

Most people’s first question about the bro split is simple: does it work? In other words, is a bro split workout plan a good way to organize your training if your goal is to build muscle?

According to many evidence-based fitness “thought leaders,” the answer is a resounding “no.”

I disagree.

The bro split is effective for building muscle and strength . . . if you program it correctly. And it’s especially effective for beginners in their first year or so of weightlifting.

To really answer the question, “do bro splits work?” though, you need to weigh the pros and cons of following a bro split workout plan. 

Let’s start with the pros.

Bro Split Routine Pros

Perhaps the biggest benefit of the bro split routine is that it’s simple.

Each of your workouts has a very specific goal (to train your chest, for example), so you know exactly what you’re doing every time you set foot in the gym. 

Many people also enjoy bro splits, and we tend to push ourselves harder when we enjoy our training. 

Dedicating an entire session to a single muscle group means you can train it with enough volume (sets and reps) in each workout to get a big pump, which isn’t necessary for muscle growth, but which has also been famously likened to having an orgasm. 

Another reason many guys like bro splits is they typically emphasize upper-body training. If you follow a 5-day bro split routine like the example I shared earlier, for instance, then you’re spending 4 out of 5 days in the gym training your upper body muscles. 

This cuts both ways, though, because bro splits are often lousy for people who want to emphasize their lower bodies, which includes many women. That said, you can set up a bro split in a way that includes more lower-body training. 

Bro Split Routine Cons

The biggest criticism leveled at the bro split is that it doesn’t provide the optimal training frequency or volume for all of your muscle groups.

Research shows that if you want to build muscle as quickly and effectively as possible, you should train each of your major muscle groups at least twice per week (particularly if you’ve been training for more than a year or so) with a total of 10-to-20 sets.

However, when you follow a bro split workout plan, you’ll generally only train each major muscle group once per week. 

Some people try to work around this issue by just doing more sets in each workout, but this can cause two problems:

1. You’ll probably have to reduce your weights as your workout drags on and your muscles fatigue.
2. You may get so sore and fatigued from a workout that it interferes with subsequent workouts later in the week. For example, “blasting” your chest on Monday will likely cut into your shoulder workout on Wednesday.

While you may not notice these effects at first, they’ll hinder your ability to gain muscle and strength over time.

Another reason people carp at bro-split routines has to do with muscle protein synthesis (MPS), the process your body uses to repair, grow, and strengthen muscle fibers.

Research shows that muscle protein synthesis rates elevate immediately following a workout and return to normal 10-to-48 hours later, depending on how experienced you are (the more experienced you are, the faster MPS declines after a workout).

This means that after 2-to-3 days, your muscles are done growing in response to the previous workout, and if you want them to get bigger and stronger, you’ll have to train them again.

A typical bro split workout plan has you training each muscle group just once per week, which means you’re waiting a full seven days before training a muscle again. That’s a lot of time spent not building muscle each week.

That said, there are two reasons this isn’t as problematic as many people make it out to be: 

First, when people say that bro splits only train each major muscle group once per week, they’re talking about badly-designed bro split routines. Which, in fairness, includes most of the programs you’re likely to find floating around the Internet. 

If you follow a half-decent bro split workout plan that includes plenty of compound exercises, though, you’ll likely train each muscle group more than once per week.

That’s because there’s a lot of muscular carryover between compound exercises. For example, the bench press trains your chest but also your shoulders and triceps. The one-arm dumbbell row trains your lats but also your biceps and shoulders. And the squat and deadlift train your legs and back. 

Thus, if you use the right exercises, you’ll probably train each muscle group 1.5-to-2 times per week. And if you do those exercises in the right order for the right number of sets and reps, you’ll have no problem making progress following a bro split workout plan.

Second, if you’ve been lifting weights for less than a year, you can still grow like gangbusters training each muscle group once per week. Newbie weightlifters experience a much more prolonged increase in muscle protein synthesis and, thus, don’t need to train as often as more experienced weightlifters.

The Best Bro Split Workout Plan

As I mentioned a moment ago, when it comes to how well a bro split will work for you, the devil is in the details. 

So long as the bro split routine you follow is based around compound exercises, you’re pushing for progressive overload in every workout, and, if you’ve been training for a year or longer, you train each muscle group at least twice per week, you can make excellent progress. 

Let’s take a look at a bro split workout plan that checks all of these boxes . . .

Day 1: Chest 

Day 2: Back 

Day 3: Shoulders

Day 4: Legs

Day 5: Arms

The Bro Split vs. Other Workout Routines

When it comes to workout splits, the bro split faces stiff competition. How does it stack up against other popular routines like push pull legs, the upper lower split, and full-body training? And which is the best fit for your goals?

Let’s break it down.

Bro Split vs. PPL Split

The push pull legs (PPL) split has been around for decades and is one of the most proven workout splits of all time.

The idea of PPL is simple . . .

• On push days you train your pecs, delts, and triceps.
• On pull days you train your back and biceps. 
• On leg days you train your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.

In most cases, a standard PPL split looks like this:

• Monday: Push
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: Pull
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: Legs
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Rest

The pros of this workout split are that it’s simple, time-tested, and time efficient.

The main cons of the traditional PPL, though, are that each muscle group is trained only once per week, and because you only train three times per week, it’s difficult to do enough volume in each workout to maximize muscle growth.

If you’re pressed for time and can only make it to the gym three days a week, the PPL split will probably fit your schedule better than a traditional bro split. However, if you have a little more time to dedicate to training, you’ll probably gain more muscle and strength following a well-designed bro-split workout plan.

READ MORE: The Best Push Pull Legs Routines for Mass Gains

Bro Split vs. Full Body Split

Full-body workouts are more or less exactly what they sound like: workouts in which you train several major muscle groups in each session. That said, many “full-body” workouts are more accurately described as “high-frequency” workouts where you train each muscle group three or more times per week. 

Either way, most full-body workout splits have you training anywhere from 3-to-5 days per week, depending on your experience, goals, and schedule, and normally look something like this:

• Monday: Full Body
• Tuesday: Rest or Full Body
• Wednesday: Full Body
• Thursday: Rest or Full Body
• Friday: Full Body
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Rest

The biggest pro of full-body workout splits is the frequency—they train every major muscle group at least twice per week, which is the sweet spot for building muscle. 

The main con of full-body training is that it can be easy to mess up.

Because of the high frequency, if you don’t manage your volume and exercises properly, you run the risk of doing too much work while getting too little rest, which can quickly lead to burnout or injury. Thus, you have to be very careful about properly managing your workout volume and intensity, which is something most people struggle with.

What’s more, research shows training a muscle group more than once per week isn’t much better than training it twice per week when you’re new to weightlifting. Thus, a bro split routine would likely be just as good for beginners as a full-body split. 

The calculus changes as you become more advanced, though, and after your first year or so of weightlifting, you’ll likely build muscle and gain strength faster by training each muscle group at least twice per week (though we still don’t full understand if training each muscle group more than twice per week offers any additional benefit).

READ MORE: The Best Full-Body Workout Routines for Building Muscle

Bro Split vs. Upper Lower Split

An upper lower workout split organizes training into two different types of workouts: upper-body workouts and lower-body workouts.

The idea is you do upper-body exercises on your upper-body days, and lower-body exercises on your lower-body days.

Here’s how most people set it up:

• Monday: Upper 
• Tuesday: Lower
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Upper
• Friday: Lower
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Rest

The main pro of the upper lower split is that it offers a great mix of volume and frequency—training each major muscle group at least twice a week, while allowing plenty of time for recovery between workouts.

The biggest con of this workout split, though, is that workouts tend to be a bit longer than most other splits.

For example, on a typical upper-body day you’ll generally do exercises for your chest, shoulders, arms, and back in one go. It’s a push pull workout for your upper-body, basically.

While this is very workable, the gears begin to grind when you start doing more than about 15 sets per muscle group per week (at which point you may want to spread those sets over more workouts). 

Most upper lower splits also train your lower and upper body equally, which may or may not be optimal for your circumstances. For instance, if you have small legs but a well-developed upper body, you’d probably be better off spending more time training your legs than burnishing your upper body.

READ MORE: ​​The Best 3-, 4- & 5-Day Upper Lower Workout Splits for Mass

FAQ #1: Is the bro split good for beginners?

Yes, a bro split workout plan can be good for beginners. New weightlifters respond well to bro splits because they don’t need to train each muscle group as frequently as more experienced trainees to see progress. Training a muscle once per week is usually enough.

That said, the success of a bro split for beginners depends on programming. If the workout plan contains plenty of compound exercises, includes enough volume, and prioritizes progressive overload, a bro split can deliver excellent results.

If it doesn’t meet this criteria, however, it won’t be nearly as effective. 

FAQ #2: Can you do a 4-day bro split workout plan?

Yes, you can do a 4-day bro split. There are a few ways to program this type of workout plan, but the most common is to drop a specific arm day, and tag biceps and triceps training onto the end of chest and back days.

Here’s how a 4-day bro split following these guidelines might look:

Day 1: Chest and Triceps

Flat Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Incline Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Dip: 3 sets of 8-to-10 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Overhead Triceps Extension: 3 sets of 10-to-12 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Day 2: Back and Biceps

Barbell Deadlift: 3 sets of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

One-arm Dumbbell Row: 3 sets of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Pull-up: 3 sets for as many reps as possible with 2-to-3 min rest

Barbell Curl: 3 sets of 8-to-10 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Day 3: Shoulders

Barbell Overhead Press: 3 sets of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Arnold Press: 3 sets of 8-to-10 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise: 3 sets of 10-to-12 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise: 3 sets of 10-to-12 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Day 4: Legs

Barbell Back Squat: 3 sets of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets of 6-to-8 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Leg Press: 3 sets of 8-to-10 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

Seated Calf Raise: 3 sets of 10-to-12 reps with 2-to-3 min rest

FAQ #3: Can you do a 6-day bro split workout plan?

Yes, you can do a 6-day bro split, but they’re not as common as 5- and 4-day routines. In most cases, a 6 day bro split is the same as a 5-day split with an extra workout dedicated to a specific muscle group that needs more attention. 

For example, if your chest is lagging, you might add a second chest day. Or, if your upper chest is underdeveloped compared to your mid and lower chest, you might do separate lower and upper pec workouts weekly. 

Many people also use the extra day in a 6-day bro split to do some direct ab training. This ensures their abs get the attention they need to grow optimally without cutting into other workouts during the week.