Let me guess – you’ve probably been following the same weight training split for a good period of time, right?
The more guys I talk to at fitness conventions and working with my online clients the more I realize that over 90 percent of guys plateau from their weight training routine.
If you want to build lean muscle mass fast you need to have a strategic weight training routine that will help you build the body’s largest and strongest muscle groups and also cater to your schedule and time that you have to lift.
Whether you have just 3 days, or a full 7 days to work out, there’s absolutely no reason you can’t see amazing progress with your fitness and muscle building goals.
I used to follow the same boring routine as everyone else and was stuck for around 18 straight months with absolutely ZERO strength and lean muscle gains. My routine was doing the exact same chest routine on Monday, the same back routine on Tuesday, a mediocre leg workout during the middle of the week, and a generic shoulder routine at the end of the week.
Sound familiar?
I’m excited to share with you these 3 hardcore training splits that will yield you the fastest results in the shortest time. Below, I’m going to break down my absolute favorite training routines for a 3-day, 4-day and 6-day training split.
Weight Training Routine #1: (3-Day Training Split)
The 3-day training split is perfect for the beginner or someone who doesn’t have a lot of time on their hands but wants to make some amazing gains.
What makes the 3-day split so effective is ZERO WASTED TIME in the gym. You are only doing the exercises that give you the maximum muscle building gains.
Compound exercises are the ones that work your body’s largest and strongest muscle groups. On the 3-day split you will only be doing the exercises that give you the fastest lean muscle gains and put the maximum overload on your largest muscle groups.
With this 3-day split, you’ll be using 6 of the best muscle building exercises in the world, which include:
- Barbell bench press
- Barbell deadlift
- Barbell squat
- Barbell row
- Weighted pull-up
- Weighted dip
The 3-day split means you will pick the 3 days of the week you have available to work out and you will ONLY perform 3 of these compound exercises per workout. You can pick and choose what you want to lift and the key is to always switch up the workouts.
Weight Training Routine #2: (4-Day Training Split)
The best way to set up a 4-day split is by incorporating opposing muscle group super-sets. This classic training split was actually made famous by Arnold, and the push-pull superset workout was his favorite workout for building lean muscle mass quickly and bursting through any plateau.
Here is how you would set up the classic 4-day opposing muscle group supersets.
- Monday: Chest and back
- Tuesday: (Rest)
- Wednesday: Quadriceps and hamstrings
- Thursday: (Rest)
- Friday: Biceps and triceps
- Saturday: (Rest)
- Sunday: Traps and shoulders
The best way to do this split is performing back-to-back opposing muscle group super sets throughout the workout. For example – you will start off doing a set of wide grip pull ups until failure and transition into the barbell bench press on your chest and back day. Opposing muscle group super sets = rapid lean muscle gains.
Each workout will be a combination of opposing muscle group super sets. The science behind this split is that when one muscle groups is fatigued the opposing muscle group will actually feel stronger.
When I started doing this training split I could not believe how much stronger I felt when I was training the opposing muscle group.
If you have been in the gym for at least a year and have started to plateau this is the perfect training split to try for a few months.
Weight Training Routine #3: (6-Day Training Split)
The 6-day training split is by far the most hardcore and is only for experienced lifters who are ready to make some rapid lean muscle gains.
The 6-day training split is very common in the fitness model and bodybuilding world because it allows you to put all of your emphasis on just 1-2 muscle groups per day.
The 6-day split puts a ton of emphasis on each muscle group EACH workout. The key is you want to start the workout with the exercises that you can lift the MOST weight on, aka the compound exercises.
Here’s how the workout looks:
- 6-7 total exercises
- 20-25 total sets per workout
This means that on your chest day you’ll start off by doing heavy bench press and dumbbell bench press and then transition into low cable flys and your shaper exercises. Follow this regimen for each muscle group on the 6-day split.
- Monday: Chest
- Tuesday: Quadriceps and biceps
- Wednesday: Hamstrings and triceps
- Thursday: Heavy pull day
- Friday: Deltoids
- Saturday: Traps
- Sunday: (Rest)
The magic of this workout split is that you can really put a ton of emphasis on your weak points. My personal weak points were my legs and triceps. This 6-day split for example allows me to blast my triceps with 20-30 sets per workout and then split my leg workout into 2 separate days where I can solely focus on my quadriceps and/or hamstrings.
This is my current workout split and I have seen the most progress with the 6-day split. If you have been in the gym for more than 2 years and have reached a plateau, then I recommend following this training split for at least 3 months straight.
Like I said – the key to this split working is that you have to change up your routine consistently and put the most emphasis on the compound exercises at the start of the workout.
These are my favorite weight training routines for rapid lean muscle gains. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and try new things! Experimenting and staying hungry with bodybuilding is the X-factor for amazing results.
Whether you have 3, 4, or 6 days a week to work out, there’s no doubt you’ll see rapid gains following these workout splits.
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