Bro Split Workout Plan
One muscle group a day, five days a week, done the way that actually builds size: enough volume per session to justify a full week of recovery.
Program Overview
The bro split gets mocked, and the criticism is half right. Training each muscle once a week is not the most efficient way to grow, and if you train three days a week it is clearly the wrong choice. But if you train five days and you enjoy it, the research gap closes to something small, and the program you actually look forward to beats the optimal one you abandon in March. This version fixes the two things that genuinely sink most bro splits: too few hard sets per session to earn seven days of recovery, and arms getting more attention than legs. Twenty or so working sets per muscle group per week, legs included. Every exercise includes a form video.
Training three or four days instead? Our 4-day upper lower split and complete workout plan for men hit everything twice a week, which suits that frequency far better. For five days with more frequency per muscle, see our 5-day gym workout split.
Who Is This For?
This plan suits you if:
- You train five days a week and intend to keep doing so
- You like giving a muscle group a whole session
- You have a year or more of consistent training behind you
- You want the version that takes legs as seriously as arms
Every split at this level lives on our intermediate programs page.
Weekly Schedule
Phase 1: Earn the Volume (Weeks 1-4)
Five sessions, each opening with the heaviest compound for that muscle while you are fresh, then working through angles and finishing with an isolation movement. Around eighteen to twenty working sets per session, which is what makes a full week of recovery reasonable rather than wasteful. Stop one or two reps short of failure on compounds and take the last set of each isolation movement to failure.
If a session leaves you able to repeat it the next day, it was not enough to justify waiting a week. Volume is what earns the frequency here.
Lower the bar to your mid chest with control and press it back to lockout.
Press dumbbells from an inclined bench, lowering to upper chest level.
On parallel bars, lean forward and lower until the shoulders reach elbow depth, then press up.
With a soft elbow bend, bring the handles together in front of your chest.
From low pulleys, sweep the handles up and together in front of your chest.
Hinge forward and row the bar to your lower ribs, then lower under control.
Pull the bar down to your upper chest by driving the elbows down and back.
Pull the handle to your midsection, keeping the torso upright.
With one knee and hand on a bench, row the dumbbell to your hip. Work both sides.
Hold the bar at arm's length and shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears.
Press the bar from your front delts to lockout overhead without leaning back.
Press two dumbbells from shoulder height to lockout overhead.
Raise the dumbbells out to your sides to shoulder height with a soft elbow bend.
Hinged forward, raise the dumbbells out to your sides with a soft elbow bend.
Pull the bar up along your body toward chest height, leading with the elbows.
Curl the bar to shoulder height with the elbows pinned, then lower slowly.
Lying on a bench, lower the EZ bar toward your forehead by bending only at the elbows.
On an incline bench, curl with a neutral grip from a full hanging stretch.
Push a rope attachment down and split the ends apart at the bottom.
Seated with the elbow braced on your inner thigh, curl with total isolation. Work both sides.
Place the barbell on your upper traps, squat down until thighs are at least parallel, then drive up.
Hold the barbell at hip height, push your hips back and lower until you feel a hamstring stretch.
Seated in the machine, lower the platform toward your chest and press it back out.
With your rear foot elevated on a bench, lower into a split squat and drive up. Work both sides.
Rise onto the balls of your feet and lower for a full stretch.
An easy walk to move blood through the muscles you trained without adding fatigue.
Gentle mobility for whichever joints felt stiff getting into position last session.
Phase 2: Rotate the Angles (Weeks 5-8)
Same five days, with each session's middle movements rotated so the muscle meets a different angle while the opening compound keeps progressing. This is where a once-weekly split earns its reputation for building detail: you have the time and the recovery to work a muscle from four directions in one sitting, which a full body day never allows.
Progress the opener by weight and everything behind it by reps. When an isolation movement reaches the top of its range on every set, add the smallest increment available and start again.
Lower the bar to your mid chest with control and press it back to lockout.
Press two dumbbells from chest level to lockout above your chest.
On an incline bench, open the arms wide and bring them back together.
Standing between low cables, press the handles forward and together.
Lying flat, open the arms wide with a soft elbow bend and bring them back together.
Row explosively from a dead stop on the floor with your torso parallel to the ground.
Hang from the bar with an overhand grip and pull your chin above the bar.
Row a single handle to your side, allowing a longer range through the torso. Work both sides.
Deadlift from pins set just below the knee, focusing on the top half of the pull.
Hold the bar at arm's length and shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears.
Press the bar from your front delts to lockout overhead without leaning back.
Start with palms facing you and rotate the hands outward as you press overhead.
Raise the dumbbells out to your sides to shoulder height with a soft elbow bend.
Hinged forward with cables crossed, open the arms wide against the resistance.
Pull the dumbbells toward your face with high elbows, squeezing the rear delts.
Curl the bar while dragging it up your torso, elbows travelling backward.
Bench with hands roughly shoulder width, keeping the elbows tucked.
Curl a rope attachment with a neutral grip, splitting the ends at the top.
Facing away from the pulley, extend both arms overhead until the elbows lock.
Push a V-bar attachment down to full lockout with the elbows fixed.
Place the barbell on your upper traps, squat down until thighs are at least parallel, then drive up.
With the bar on your back, step forward into a lunge and push back to standing. Alternate legs.
Stagger the feet with most weight on the front leg and hinge at the hip. Work both sides.
Seated in the machine, lower the platform toward your chest and press it back out.
Rise onto the balls of your feet and lower for a full stretch.
A relaxed walk on your off days. It adds up more than people expect over a training block.
A short mobility circuit for the hips and thoracic spine.
Bro Split Workout Plan PDF
Five days, one muscle group each, with the volume per session that actually justifies a week of recovery.
This is a 5-day body-part split you run for 8 weeks with full gym access: chest, back, shoulders, arms and legs, each getting a full session of 18 to 20 working sets. Phase 1 (weeks 1-4) opens every session with its heaviest compound and works outward through angles to an isolation finisher. Phase 2 (weeks 5-8) rotates the middle movements so each muscle meets new angles while the opening lift keeps progressing, with legs carrying the same volume as everything else.
- Enough Sets To Earn The Week The usual bro split failure is ten easy sets and six days off. Twenty hard sets per muscle is what makes the once-weekly frequency defensible.
- Legs Are Not The Afterthought Friday carries squats, Romanian deadlifts, presses and single leg work at the same intensity as chest day. The plan assumes you want a physique, not a billboard.
- Four Angles Per Muscle A full session per body part buys you something a full body day cannot: time to work a muscle from every direction in one sitting. Phase 2 is built around that.
Get Your Bro Split Plan
Includes both training phases, the weekly schedule, and exercise cues for all five sessions. Download instantly after you submit the form.
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Nutrition Guidance
Five hard sessions a week is a real recovery bill and the most common reason bro splits underdeliver is under-eating, not the split. Our macro calculator sets the numbers and our recipes make them easy to hit. For more depth, read building muscle while minimizing fat gain and how to tell if your training is working.
What Actually Matters Here
- Calories: Maintenance to a 300 surplus. Twenty sets per muscle per week does not grow on a deficit, whatever the mirror is telling you to do.
- Protein: 1.6 to 2.2g per kg daily, spread across the day rather than stacked in the evening.
- The two rest days matter: Five training days leaves only two for repair. Protecting them is part of the program, not a gap in it.
If a muscle group feels fully recovered two days after its session, add a set or two next week rather than adding a day.
