5 Day Workout Routine (with PDF)

If you’re hitting the gym with no plans on which muscle group you will train, you’re doing it wrong. Sticking to a proper workout routine is as important as any of the exercises you do while training your muscles.

Different people have diverse workout programs. Some people prefer to work out three days a week. Others don’t want to take any breaks and tend to train on all seven days of the week.

Different training splits have distinct advantages and shortcomings. But generally speaking, a 5 day workout plan might be the most effective for most gym enthusiasts. This is because it allows bodybuilders to engage in multiple workout sessions while also providing sufficient time for recovery.

In such a training split, you can train a specific muscle group at least twice a week, which is the recommended standard for maximum muscle gains. The science behind this conclusion is simple enough.

When you finish lifting, there is a window of about 48 hours in which you’re building muscle in the triggered region. After this period is over, the muscle-building process will be over. So, if you want to spur further growth, you’ll need to retrain that muscle group.

Thus, exercise frequency is directly proportional to muscle growth. The more you trigger your body to go into a muscle-building state, the sooner you’ll see visible results.

But even then, you cannot plunge into a 5 day workout routine without prior planning. If you overwork a muscle, it might lead to irreversible injuries or muscle strains. Fortunately, we have the right 5 day workout program to promote hypertrophy, strength, and injury-free training sessions.

5 Day Workout Principles

Frequency and good nutrition is the key to effective muscle-building through training. With 5 day workout routines, you can have the perfect balance of training frequency and training intensity to carve out the best results.

Usually, a basic 5 day workout plan would focus on once-per-week frequency. This essentially means that you’ll be training one body part for each day of the week. Apart from being inefficient, this gym workout routine can promote negative overlapping while exercising, especially during compound movements.

To counter this, we’ll go with the more effective training split – a combination of push-pull-leg split and upper-lower split. The dichotomy of these training splits can create a wholesome training routine focusing on each part of the body while giving muscle groups sufficient time to recover.

For instance, push and pull exercises require entirely different muscle groups, thus preventing overlapping altogether.

The 5 day split, therefore, avoids counterproductive training sessions like a “shoulder day” or “arms day” and focuses more on attaining maximum training frequency wherein each muscle group is trained at least twice a week in a balanced manner.

Moreover, the inclusion of high-intensity AMRAP (as many reps as possible) sets in the workout routine promote high volume training and cardiovascular health. We’ve also added drop-sets in several exercises in this routine. It allows bodybuilders to hit muscular failure, decrease the load, and do more repetitions.

Both of these muscle-building strategies are excellent for gains. When you hit muscular fatigue, all the muscle fibers grow, resulting in greater hypertrophy. Using the effective high-frequency model, you don’t have to lift super heavy weights to achieve growth and strength.

5 Day Workout Schedule

Now you know the scientific principles behind 5 day gym splits. But the benefits are only applicable if you have the right routine. You must create the perfect blend of movements and exercises to trigger maximum muscle growth.

If you mess up your training schedule, it might lead to inefficient workout sessions and even muscular strains. Fortunately, we’ve developed an effective 5 days a week workout plan to help you in your fitness journey.

Without further ado, let’s move right into our wholesome 5 day gym workout schedule:

1. Day 1- Legs
2. Day 2- Push
3. Day 3- Pull
4. Day 4- Leg
5. Day 5- Upper
6. Day 6- Off
7. Day 7- Off

And that’s it – that’s our 5 days a week workout schedule for maximum hypertrophy, gains, and strength.

While following this routine, it’s also vital to note that this is not a simple 5 day weightlifting routine. Instead, it also involves bodyweight movements like crunches to build your core muscles for postural superiority and better stability.

We mustn’t neglect any muscle group. And that is one of the core principles we’ve followed in our 5 day gym workout schedule.

Most people who are stuck on simple one muscle group per week schedules are overworking themselves for minimal results. In addition, the bro splits that we commonly see in 5 day workout routines are outdated and prevent bodybuilders from exploiting the link between frequency and hypertrophy.

There is a limit to how much stimulation your muscles can respond to, and exceeding that limit will lead to ineffective repetitions and sometimes muscle catabolism due to overstimulation.

To avoid such issues, it’s practical to make effective muscle-group partitions. With a hybrid PPL- UL effective workout plan, you can achieve your goals through shorter workout sessions, having more recovery time, and even lifting lighter weights.

5 Day Workout Routine

Now that you know the rough outline of your workout routine, we can move on to the next part – a detail-oriented exercise plan for your training sessions.

Before you get too excited and hit the gym right after memorizing this schedule, it’s essential to remember that mental strength is also a primary requisite for successful training sessions. Especially if you’re going to complete AMRAP and drop sets, you’ll need to be ready to deal with the intensity.

The goal is to avoid exhausting your muscles too much at the start. Play around with weights, but don’t go overboard on the first attempt. In this gym workout routine, the key is achieving maximum hypertrophy through increased training frequency and lifting moderate-heavy weights.

Now, you can move on to this carefully devised workout plan to maximize your gains:

Day 1: Legs

1. Squat- 3 sets of 10 reps
2. Lunges- 3 sets of 10 reps
3. Leg extension – 3 sets of 10 reps
4. Lying leg curl- 3 sets of 10 reps
5. Calf raises- 3 AMRAP sets
6. Decline crunches- 3 AMRAP sets
7. Lying leg raises- 3 AMRAP sets

Day 2: Push

1. Push ups- 3 sets of 20 reps
2. Bench press- 3 sets of 10 reps
3. Overhead press- 3 sets of 10 reps
4. Incline dumbbell press- 3 sets of 10 reps
5. Front/Lateral raises- 3 sets of 10 reps
6. Cable triceps pushdowns- 3 sets of 10 reps + 1 drop set
7. Skull crushers- 3 sets of 10 reps

Day 3: Pull

1. Pull ups- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
2. Deadlift- 3 sets of 6-8 reps
3. Seated cable rows- 3 sets of 10 reps
4. Dumbbell curls- 3 sets of 10 reps
5. Preacher curls- 3 sets of 10 reps
6. Dumbbell shrugs- 3 sets of 10 reps
7. Reverse Curl- 3 sets of 10 reps

Day 4: Lower

1. Squat- 3 sets of 10 reps
2. Leg extension – 3 sets of 10 reps
3. Lying leg curl- 3 sets of 10 reps
4. Leg press- 3 sets of 10 reps
5. Calf raises- 3 AMRAP sets
6. Lying leg raises- 3 AMRAP sets
7. Russian twist- 3 AMRAP sets

Day 5: Upper

1. Parallel bar dips- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
2. Flat dumbbell presses- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
3. Seated dumbbell shoulder presses- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
4. Dumbbell lateral raises- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
5. Cable rows- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
6. Dumbbell rows- 3 sets of 10-15 reps
7. Cable behind head tricep extension- 3 sets of 10 reps + 1 drop set
8. Cable Curls- 3 sets of 10 reps + 1 drop set

Day 6 & Day 7: Rest

And that’s it; you’ve completed the weekly plan successfully! Going through this 5 day workout routine is not going to be an easy task. The exercises will be intense. Even if you’re not lifting as per your potential, you will still suffer through muscular failures several times because the routine is designed to profit off exercise frequencies.

Don’t miss:

3 Day Full Body Workout Routine
2 Day Split Workout Plan
4 Day Push Pull Workout Routine
7 Day Workout Plan

It’s also crucial to remember that you’re not going to see any visible results in one week. Instead, you’ll have to follow this plan strictly for many months to see changes in your hypertrophy and strength capabilities.

Moreover, for sustained progression, you’ll have to play around with weights and repetitions sometimes. So don’t make the schedule too monotonous. You can take your rest days between two consecutive training sessions to avoid overload or complacency.

Eventually, working out successfully is all about staying motivated by yourself.

5 Day Workout Plan PDF

Are you excited to work out using our 5 day workout plan but can’t seem to memorize all the exercises? Don’t worry; we’ve got your back.

You don’t have to check your phone after every set to see what’s next. Instead, you can get our printable 5 day workout plan PDF and keep the schedule in a hardcopy format.

Otherwise, you can simply keep the printable PDF with you on your phone.

Don’t miss:

Two Body Parts a Day Workout Routine
5 Day Dumbbell Workout Plan
Advanced Upper Lower Split Workout Plan
4 Day Advanced Full Body Workout Routine for Mass

Wrapping Up

Scientists and researchers have already confirmed that training your muscle groups at least twice a week is most effective for achieving greater muscle hypertrophy. In such a case, 5 day workout routines are the best for getting significant muscle gains while also having sufficient time for recovery.

Incorporating a push-pull-leg and upper-lower split combination in your schedule might be the final ingredient to an effective workout plan.