6 day bro split

[rijesusfreak]

6 day bro split

Yes yes, the bro split. I know it’s not optimal. I know i should be doing PPL twice a week. But I hate PPL, makes me feel miserable and hate working out.

Something about just getting into the gym and completely obliterating only one muscle makes me smile and excited.

Now, currently, I’m on the following split:
1. Chest/triceps
2. Back/biceps
3. Shoulder/Traps
4. Legs

I’ll do abs at the end of each workout. The thing is, the volume per session is making it quite lengthy and if I’m on a busy day I can’t stretch/light cardio post workout and sometimes I even find it difficult hitting abs.

So I’m thinking of going back to the traditional bro split, but splitting legs in two separate days(I feel like one day for full legs is a bit taxing), like this:

1. Chest
2. Back
3. Hammstrings, glutes, calves
4. Shoulder
5. Arms
6. Quads

Maybe I could try splitting posterior chain between other days, I don’t know… something weird like:

1. Chest + glutes
2. Back
3. Shoulder + hammstrings
4. Arms + calves
5. Quads

How weird would this be ?

I’d rather have a 5 day split, but not with all the leg volume in one day. I guess a 6 day split will work better maybe ?

Anyone tried it/have some opinions or suggestions ?
Thanks

Edit: I’m already working out 6 days a week, just following my 4 workout sequence - if I miss a day it’s not a problem because I still hit all muscles at least once a week, but missing a day in this 6 day bro split could be a problem I guess

 

[kasparq]

@rijesusfreak Bro Split/bodypart Split doesn't seem to be as bad as people make it out to be. Every split works. Some split work better for some than others

 

[mm1992]

@rijesusfreak Why are you doing abs everyday? The chest, back, hams/glutes, shoulder, arms, quads split looks great. I’d say start the week with your top priority muscle since it’s after a rest day.

 

[rijesusfreak]

@mm1992 Im doing like 3 sets of abs in the end of the workout. I’ve read a lot of people saying that you can/should train abs everyday because they recover fast. Do you think I should be doing it differently ?

 

[mm1992]

@rijesusfreak Abs are no different than any other muscle imo. Shoulders,Arms,Calves,Abs can usually be trained with the highest frequency at around 2-3 times a week

 

[intotheforge]

@mm1992 I say train core everyday but dont train abs everyday.

Lets say doing suitcase carries for core and gpp work.

 

[mm1992]

@intotheforge Why? 2-3 times a week is definitely better than everyday as you are giving the muscles time to recover from direct work while they are constantly getting indirect work.

 

[intotheforge]

@mm1992 Why not?

 

[mm1992]

@intotheforge You’re 5’6 250lbs I’m gonna assume you think abs/core everyday will help you lose weight. That’s not how it works.

 

[intotheforge]

@mm1992 Thank you for taking in the time to check my profile before commenting.

What you misunderstood is that I wasnt advocating training abs/core for weightloss BUT to have a stronger core.

You already walk everyday. Grab a glass of water with one hand? Thats a suitcase carry right there. I'm merely saying adding at least 50 meters of it not only for core but grip and conditioning as well.

The bang for buck is insane.

Are we on similar page now?

ps. i was 165 then ballooned to 270 due to moving to another country/major depressive disorder/lots of bad habits accruing.

my weight set aside, i still stand beside with "greasing the groove" especially with core. im by no means an expert, far from it. a newbie at that but I have my beliefs and you have yours. I'm hope we can come to a handshake even if it's to agree to disagree.

 

[mm1992]

@intotheforge Yeah, a suitcase carry is a good core exercise but that doesn’t mean you need to do it everyday to have a strong core. More is not always better. Any squat, deadlift, lunge, or non chest supported row variation works your core. No reason to mindlessly do additional core exercises every single day just because it’s “functional”. You could overly fatigue your core muscles and cause form breakdown on a big lift and get injured.

 

[intotheforge]

@mm1992 Again, I'm not saying do 5 working sets of 50 meter suitcase carries. Just like greasing the groove of doing some pull ups here and there throughout the day, starting with a suitcase carry to warm up body and grip even if just 1 set of 20 meters helps a lot for me. Again, das just me, and perhaps cus I have a weak core, so now I'm inclined to do em more. Can never have enough core. I don't have a dedicated "ab day" so I just do some core work almost daily. Of course just doing the big compounds works your core. I do like to have my core above my big compound strength.

Another staple to my leg days is finishing with back extensions, either weighted or not depending on how beat up my shit is after the leg day lol. That and/or seated goodrmornings. I literally feel better afterwards even if the workout was tiring.

also, you could do them AFTER your compounds cus as you said, you dont wanna go into a squat session with an already fatigued core.

 

[travelartist]

@rijesusfreak On the contrary, I've seen many people say that you should train abs like any other muscle, so I'd just train it twice a week like any other as part of an upper-body day (i don't know many people with the balls to do abs on a leg day)

 

[peggys]

@rijesusfreak Have you tried a chest/back, shoulders/arms and legs split 2x per week? That would get you 6 days but maybe alleviate what issues you had with push pull.

 

[jackc]

@rijesusfreak I was doing a bro split for almost all of 2023 and had good results. My split was like this
1. Chest/side laterals
2. Back/rear delts
3. Hamstrings
4. Shoulders/upper chest
5. Arms
6. Quads

 

[salpizo2011]

@rijesusfreak What about this with main compounds

1. Chest / (1) Machine for legs to failure
2. Back / (1) Machine for Hams to failure
3. Abs / OHP / Calves
4. Arms / Squats
5. DB Shoulders / Deadlift / Traps finisher
6. Rest
7. Rest

I really hate Brosplits btw.

 

[onetruefreedom]

@rijesusfreak as someone who had a similar problem, this is what I came up with (on mobile so formatting sucks)

1. chest and shoulders
2. back
3. quads and adductors
4. rest
5. arms
6. glutes and hams

not exactly a bro split though. I was doing ppl for a while but I wanted the extra rest day, and I’ve been progressing pretty well with this lower volume approach. I placed chest and arms after rest days, as they are my current weak points. I also do calves on both leg days and forearms on both back and arms. I have much more to say but honestly I can’t be bothered typing it all out on mobile so just ask if you have questions

 

[rijesusfreak]

@onetruefreedom I liked this a lot actually! Might give it a try

 

[dawn16]

@rijesusfreak Do whatever you like. It’ll be fine.

 

[gladventist]

@rijesusfreak just seems unbalanced to me. like for chest, how much volume are you doing that day? 12 sets or something? lot more effective to split that up twice a week. or youre doing less volume (say 6 sets), thats likr a 20 minute workout, whats the point? same thing with quads. i just don’t see why you would split it up this way imo.

you could do more of an arnold split if you really hate PPL. chest and shoulder press, back and rear delts, legs, arms and lateral shoulders, rest