Bro Split: What It Is, the Weekly Schedule and Does It Work?

A bro split trains one muscle group per day over five days, so each muscle gets one hard session a week. It builds muscle if your weekly sets are high enough, but training each muscle twice a week works a little better for most lifters.

Want the week with every set filled in? The first routine is the classic five-day bro split. The second adds an arms day to upper/lower, so each muscle trains twice.

Bro Split Workout Upper Lower Arms Split Download Hardy

In this article

What is a bro split?

A bro split gives each muscle group its own training day. Monday might be chest, Tuesday back, and so on through the week. Each muscle then rests until the same day next week.

The name comes from gym culture, where it has been the default bodybuilding plan for decades. Magazines printed pro routines built this way, and most people copied them.

The classic bro split week

The classic bro split runs five days, with the weekend off. Some people move arms or shoulders around, but the pattern stays one area per day.

The classic 5-day bro split
Day	Muscle group
Monday	Chest
Tuesday	Back
Wednesday	Shoulders
Thursday	Arms: biceps and triceps
Friday	Legs
Saturday and Sunday	Rest

A 4-day version folds shoulders and arms into one day. The Bro Split Workout runs the classic five-day week with every set filled in.

Does a bro split work?

Yes, if you do enough sets. Muscle grows from the hard sets you do each week, and a bro split can fit plenty of them into one session.

The catch is frequency. A 2016 review found that training a muscle twice a week grew it more than once. A 2019 review found the gap mostly closes when the weekly sets match.

So a bro split is not wrong, just harder to get right. Doing all of a muscle's weekly sets in one day is tiring, and the last sets lose quality. Two sessions spread the same work more evenly.

Bro split vs PPL

PPL groups muscles by movement: push, pull and legs. Run twice a week, it trains each muscle twice. A bro split trains each muscle once.

Bro split and six-day PPL side by side
	Bro split	PPL twice a week
Days per week	5	6
Each muscle per week	1 time	2 times
Sets per muscle per session	High, often 10 or more	Medium, about 5 to 8
Best for	People who love long single-muscle days	Most people training for muscle

The Reddit PPL routine is a ready six-day version. For five days, the PPLUL split also trains each muscle twice.

Who a bro split suits

Experienced lifters who want a lot of sets for one muscle in one session.
People who enjoy the pump and focus of a single-muscle day.
Anyone whose schedule gives them five short gym slots rather than four long ones.

Beginners do better on full body. They need practice on the big lifts several times a week. The workout splits page shows which split fits each number of days.

Bro split: pros and cons

✓Lots of sets and focus for one muscle each day.

✓Each muscle gets a full week to recover.

✓Simple to plan and easy to follow.

✗Each muscle trains only once a week.

✗Missing a day means that muscle skips a whole week.

✗The last sets of a long session lose quality.

How to make a bro split work

Do about 10 hard sets per muscle on its day, and build up from there.
Put the heaviest exercise first, while you are fresh.
Let big lifts cover small muscles too. Rows train biceps and presses train triceps.
If your lifts stall for a month, switch to a split that trains each muscle twice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a bro split?

A bro split is a weekly plan that trains one muscle group per day. A typical week is chest, back, shoulders, arms and legs. Each muscle gets one session a week.

What does a bro split week look like?

Five days: chest on Monday, back on Tuesday, shoulders on Wednesday, arms on Thursday and legs on Friday. The weekend is for rest.

Bro split vs PPL: which is better?

PPL for most people, because it trains each muscle twice a week. A bro split works if you do enough sets, but the gains are a little slower on average.