The 6-day workout split is an intense training program designed to give your body the chance to maximize its muscle mass. With a strict and well-planned strength training schedule, you'll quickly hit all your major muscle groupings throughout the week without injury and strain!
Before we get too deep into the 6-day split, we want to warn you this is a challenging workout schedule for beginners if carried out at maximum capacity. This is a grueling, muscle straining, and fatigue-inducing program that requires you to workout 6 days a week.
If your body isn't accustomed to training this much, try starting with fewer workouts and fewer days! Listen to your body, and don't be ashamed if you need to go easier before you're ready for a 6-day split workout.
It can only be effective if you know how to do these things beforehand:
- allow your body proper recovery time after each session
- maintain motivation to train 6 days a week
- avoid strength training-related injuries while continuing to push your body to its limits
For intermediate and advanced bodybuilders, however, the 6-day workout split can be the next step towards building mass and sculpting your desired body aesthetic.
This article will show you what a 6-day workout split will look like using a mixture of weight training, body weight, and pull-up resistance band exercises. We even throw in a few booty bands movements too!
What is a 6-day workout split?
The 6-day workout split is an advanced strength training routine, particularly designed to optimize the time spent targetting your major muscle groupings each week.
The 6-day workout is designed to maximize muscle growth across the body's most important muscles. It splits the week into individual training sessions, spread out over 6 days (yes, that's 6 days of working out; it's intense!) The idea is to target each muscle grouping twice per week while also giving them 2 days off in between sessions to recover.
For example, if Monday is chest day, you'll schedule a second chest training session on Thursday. However, the 6-day bodybuilding split can become complicated as there are 6 major muscle groupings that you need to target once per week. Fitting everything into one week-long schedule (twice) is demanding enough on its own.
Within those muscle groupings, there are individual muscles we have to target as well. For example, you don't just hit your arms; you'll target either your biceps or triceps.
Here are the major muscles that we need to target within a 6-day split:
- Back
- Chest
- Arms (forearms, biceps, and triceps)
- Shoulders
- Legs (calves, hamstrings, glutes, and quadriceps)
- Abs
It can be tricky to plan a week-long schedule, fitting in every single muscle grouping twice a week. A 6-day workout plan should leave enough time between each muscle workout. For example, you don't want to work out your arms two days in a row, but you can target biceps on Monday, then triceps on Tuesday.
Because of the limited time and a large number of muscle groups, you'll often have to work out several different muscles on the same day. Many muscle groupings complement each other well, and you can easily incorporate them into the same session.
Again, biceps and triceps are the most common example of the best muscle group combinations to workout together. You can also work out your shoulders and chest simultaneously, or your legs and core muscles.
Remember that you can vary your workout schedule each week to diversify your program. Don't be afraid to experiment by targeting different muscles in the same session as your training starts to see progress.
Here is an example of a 6-day workout routine for muscle mass building:
Day 1: Chest, shoulders, and core
Day 2: Legs and triceps
Day 3: Back and core
Day 4: Biceps, triceps, and legs
Day 5: Rest day
Day 6: Chest, shoulders, and abs
Day 7: Back and biceps
This training program includes a fully comprehensive schedule. Each day of this workout plan sees you hitting two, if not three, significant muscles in each training session. You have two days of rest between working out each targetted muscle, with one full day off per week.
With an intense program such as this, you must know how to optimize your recovery by making the most of your recovery time. We'll get to our top recovery tips later on in the article, but don't be tempted to start training on your day off!
It's also crucial that you keep the schedule as planned. Moving your workouts around each week can throw off your recovery times. This irregularity creates a less efficient workout plan and increases the chance of fatigue or injury.
6-day workout split routine
Now that we've finalized our weekly workout schedule and have target muscles and focus areas determined for each day of the week, it's time to take the training schedule one step further by selecting specific exercises that target those muscles.
We've put together sample circuits for each day, based on the above 6-day workout split. The great thing about a 6-day mass builder workout program is that there is plenty of room for variation. We encourage you to select the exercises you love the most, as this will make the 6-day workout plan more manageable for you to complete each week!
Our exercise schedule includes a mixture of resistance band exercises, free weight exercises, and bodyweight exercises. We suggest including resistance band exercises in your weekly schedule, as this allows you to reduce an element of strain from the activities. Incorporating resistance bands will help you perfect your technique, isolate and target specific muscles, and improve mobility and flexibility while building larger muscles.
Each exercise session should last a minimum of one hour and no longer than 90 minutes. We suggest performing at least three circuits of the exercises below. This isn't HIIT, but you need to hit the exercises hard to encourage improved muscle growth. Leave ample time between workouts and sets to recover. As your strength improves, you can increase your exercises' speed, the number of reps, or the strength of the bands or weights you are using.
Remember to stretch well before and after each session. We also suggest a 30-minute cardio session before each day as a warm-up if you have the time. Perform many of the following exercises with a variety of resistance bands, free weights, or weight machines in the gym.
Here's a more in-depth look at our 6-day gym workout schedule:
Day 1: Chest, shoulders, and core
- Resistance band chest press x 15
- Barbell bench press x 15
- Military press x 15
- Banded incline chest press x 15
- Banded decline chest press x 15
- Banded push-ups to failure
- Resistance band crossovers x 15
- Lateral raises x 15
- Resistance band flyes x 15
- Resistance band raises x 15
- Resistance band shoulder press x 15
- Banded glute bridges x 15
- Plank hold x 30 sec
- Side plank hold x 30 sec on each side
- Crunches to failure
Day 2: Legs and triceps
- Banded squats x 20
- Tricep pushdowns x 15
- Banded squat hold x 30 sec
- Standing calf raises x 20
- Banded skull crushers x 12
- Banded lateral steps x 20
- Tricep pushdowns x 15
- Seated leg curls x 20
- Seated calf raises x 20
- Banded squats to failure
Day 3: Back and core
- Lateral pulldowns (with resistance band) x 15
- Hammer strength pulldown x 15
- Resistance band straight arm pulldown x 15
- Barbell shrugs x 15
- Ban-assisted pull-ups x 15
- Banded glute bridges x 15
- Plank hold x 30 sec
- Side plank hold x 30 sec each side
- Clamshells x 15
- Crunches to failure
Day 4: Biceps, triceps, and legs
- Barbell curls x 15
- Band assisted tricep dips x 15
- Seated calf raises x 15
- Hammer curls x 15
- Resistance band tricep extensions x 15
- Barbell curls x 15
- Banded bicep curls x 15
- Standing calf raises x 15
- Banded push-ups to failure
Day 5: Rest day
Remember to take the entire day off from strength training. This day is the only rest day of the week, so don't be tempted to pick up the resistance bands or weights on day 5 of the training schedule. If you're feeling particularly energetic, you could fit in cardio exercises, such as jogging or cycling.
You could also use day 5 to attend yoga or pilates classes or to practice resistance band stretches. This can help you avoid injuries during your intense strength training workouts while also improving your flexibility. Alternatively, you could do nothing at all on your rest day (we won't hold it against you!)
Don't feel guilty for how you choose to spend your rest day! Listen to your body and understand when you need an actual day of nothing at all or if your body can handle a two-mile jog. Don't compare your rest day to anyone else's! This is your journey to a healthier you.
Day 6: Chest, shoulders, and abs
- Resistance band chest press x 15
- Military press x 15
- Banded flyes x 15
- Side laterals to front raise x 15
- Decline banded flyes x 15
- Banded glute bridges x 15
- Plank hold x 30 sec
- Side plank hold x 30 sec on each side
- Crunches to failure
Day 7: Back and biceps
- Seated resistance band rows x 20
- Bent-over rows with resistance band x 15
- Deadlift x 15
- Banded bicep curls x 15
- Barbell curls x 15
- One arm rows x 15
- Lateral pulldowns x 15
- Plank holds x 30 sec
- Band-assisted pull-ups x 15
How effective is a 6-day split?
6-day splits are an incredibly useful and natural bodybuilding routine, giving your entire body a thorough workout during the week. 6-day workout splits maximize your workout time and the number of training sessions you can fit into your schedule.
6 days splits will help you build massive muscle mass in all of your major muscle groupings. It's the ultimate way for bodybuilders to ensure full coverage, although bear in mind, you need to have an adequately tailored and well-put-together schedule for this to work. 6-day splits are most effective for intermediate and advanced bodybuilders looking to develop larger muscles from an existing training base.
Prospective bodybuilders should bear in mind that a 6-day split is hard work. It's a challenge to stay motivated and to stay injury-free. Find your motivation to stick to the training plan as rigidly as possible, as it's designed to optimize the amount of time you have for recovery of each significant muscle grouping. You also need to ensure that you are correctly stretching, warming up, cooling down, and recovering every day.
To stay motivated, include a wide variety of different exercises into the program each week. For example, week one could make use of free weights in the gym. Week two could utilize resistance bands at home before returning to the gym on week three.
Beginners might find that the 6-day split is too intense, however, and may not be well suited for novice bodybuilders. Without an existing muscle base and experience performing a wide range of exercises, using weights, bodyweight exercises, and resistance bands, the 6-day split will be difficult. Novices can easily find themselves overworking their muscles and joints, quickly leading to injuries and setbacks in this strenuous training plan.
If you are a beginner, consider building muscle using two, three, or four day splits before moving on to five or six days splits.
Self-motivation is critical, as this training plan takes dedication and commitment.
Put in the effort, however, and the results can be astounding!
Is it okay to workout 6 times a week?
Working out 6 days a week isn't reasonable for everyone. For starters, it's difficult for many people with full-time jobs and other commitments to find enough spare time for 6 or more hours of training sessions every week. If you do have enough spare time, then you must follow essential steps after each training session for adequate recovery.
It is okay to workout 6 times a week, provided you have the experience, you're performing exercises the correct way, and that you follow the split plan to a tee. Take rest days where scheduled, and give each muscle ample time for repair and growth.
Again, we can't stress enough how important it is for beginners to build up to 6-day training sessions. Your muscles need to be stout enough to cope with the strain of being worked out twice a week, and your body needs to be fit and healthy enough to keep up with the demanding schedule.
A decent amount of mobility, flexibility, and strength are required before you start a 6-day training split!
For recovery, it's not only essential to have enough time for your muscles to repair themselves, but you need to provide your muscles with the right conditions for them to repair themselves. One of the essential aspects is keeping a good diet. Consider increasing your protein intake for muscle growth while ensuring that you have an adequate amount of carbohydrates to provide energy.
The final say on the 6-day workout split
The 6-day workout split isn't a training schedule that's easy on the body. In fact, it's grueling. It's an intense workout regime that takes time and massive commitment over many weeks to come. We can't stress enough that this isn't a training program for beginners. 6-day splits include an advanced training schedule for serious body mass builders.
If you're just beginning your fitness journey, you need to train up to a 6 day workout week using 3, 4, and 5-day splits first. The key is to learn how your body recovers best from intense workouts, and you need to refine your exercises, movements, and techniques. Get creative and try moves that your body isn't ultimately used to maxing out. Incorporating new exercises will help keep your muscle-building from plateauing!
But suppose you're at the right stage of your training with your natural bodybuilding routines and want to see exponential growth and development. In that case, a 6-day workout plan could be the next step you need to continue sculpting your body to meet your personal fitness desires.
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