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OVERVIEW OF BEST TRAINING PROGRAMS!
🕑 Added 2025-08-01 17:09:00 +0000 UTCPerhaps one of the most popular questions a person who bought a gym membership asks is “WHAT KIND OF TRAINING PROGRAM SHOULD I USE?” Even th
Perhaps one of the most popular questions a person who bought a gym membership asks is “WHAT KIND OF TRAINING PROGRAM SHOULD I USE?” Even the average person, who is far from sport, can see that the programs are DIFFERENT, as well as their EFFECTIVENESS. There is a huge variety of different complexes and splits, and it is not easy to figure them out even for an experienced athlete. Today I’ll try to make a kind of a REVIEW of the best training programs for the "patient’s" needs so that you have a better understanding of how to build an OPTIMAL TRAINING PROGRAM FOR YOURSELF! That is, you will understand not only how different programs are fundamentally different, but also learn how to create such programs for yourself, taking into account your individual characteristics.
WHAT IS THE TRAINING PROGRAM?
TRAINING PROGRAM is basically the REGULAR STRESS/LOAD that you apply to your body so that it ADAPTED TO THEM (muscle growth and strength)!
WHY REGULAR? Because it is not expedient for the body to change something if it is not necessary (more energy is spent). You will only have large muscles or strength if you use them REGULARLY. If there is no permanence, there will be no need for this adaptation.
WHAT DOES THE TRAINING PROGRAM DEPEND ON?
ON A SPECIFIC PERSON (YOU)! The fact is that all people are different and therefore everyone needs a DIFFERENT LOAD (stress, training). THE SAME LOAD can be SUFFICIENT for one person and EXCESSIVE for another. In the former case the person will gradually adapt to it (growth of strength and muscles), and in the latter case the person will be in a condition of “overtraining” (feeling sick, no growth). There may also be a third situation where the load is INSUFFICIENT (too light training, little stress). Then the person will feel good, but there will be no growth (no need to adapt to stress, the person is just engaged in physical activities).
THE MAIN TASK: MAKE THE LOAD (TRAINING) OPTIMAL FOR A PARTICULAR PERSON!
I would like to say right away that if we are looking at BEGINNERS who, in principle, have never tortured their organism with power WORKOUTS (there has never been a regular power stress before), it is quite easy to choose the BEGINNER training program for them. Any power load will be NEW for them and muscles will react to growth, provided that the load is not too excessive. But if we compare a BEGINNER with a person who has had sports experience (for example, a sprinter or a bar athlete), the LOAD and the PROGRAM for each of them will be very DIFFERENT!
That’s why it’s IMPOSSIBLE to give a universal workout program that’s perfect for EVERYONE! Even if we now find the perfect training program for you, it will remain perfect for you just for a time. Until your body develops adaptation to it (gets used to this load). Your PROGRAM will then no longer give you ENOUGH LOAD for further GROWTH (adaptation). Your program will no longer be good for you! That’s why I like to say that every program is good in its time and for its client.
WHAT DOES THE TRAINING PROGRAM CONSIST OF?
Since the TRAINING PROGRAM is basically a DOSED STRESS (LOAD) on your body, it is very important to understand what this stress is made of in order to properly dose it (give enough stress instead of insufficient or excessive stress). THERE ARE MANY FACTORS:
Number of exercises for a muscle group
Number of muscle groups trained at one workout
Number of working sets in an exercise
Number of reps in a set
Rest time between sets
Rest time between workouts
Rest time between workouts for a muscle group
Super techniques to boost intensity
Weights in an exercise
Exercise selection
Failure in a set
Specialization in the program
Periodization in the program
etc.
This is not a complete list, my friends. How do you deal with all these numerous issues? Now I’m gonna teach you how an experienced trainer does it.
An experienced trainer has NO ABSOLUTE values regarding the load dosage in a particular training factor (see above). An experienced trainer evaluates the RELATIVE values of the “patient”. For example, I cannot say exactly what will happen to your body and muscles if we double the number of working sets per muscle group. BUT I know for sure that the LOAD would be much higher AS COMPARED TO the previous training program. This means that if the necessary regenerative resources of the body are available, adaptation should be bigger (muscle growth). I just look at the scales and the mirror in a month. If a person has become bigger and stronger, then we are on the right track (we keep an increased number of sets). If a person has not changed, then we try to change another factor (for example, reduce the number of reps in a set and increase the time of rest between them). If a person feels weak, then we give rest for a week and reduce the number of sets to the initial one because we have slipped into overtraining (the load became too big).
CHOOSING YOUR OWN TRAINING PROGRAM
Our ALGORITHM of program optimization is very simple in essence: RELATIVE INCREASE/DECREASE IN LOAD + PROGRESS ASSESSMENT!
You cannot know for sure (ABSOLUTE VALUES) how useful it would be to increase or decrease the load (stress) on a particular path for a particular person. But you can assess the effectiveness of changes IN RELATION TO what happened before and select the best program for yourself or the “patient”.
THE MORE TRAINED a person is = THE MORE LOAD he or she needs
THE MORE GENETIC a person is = THE MORE LOAD he or she needs
THE OLDER a person is = THE LESS LOAD he or she needs
THE LESS STRESS in life = THE MORE LOAD he or she needs
THE WORSE NUTRITION = THE LESS LOAD he or she needs
You do not need to know “absolute values” (this is not possible). You need to know “RELATIVE THINGS”, i.e. WHAT INCREASES THE STRESS (LOAD). AND WHAT REDUCES IT. The trainer knows it all perfectly. These are the RELATIVE INDICATORS:
MORE exercises and sets = MORE LOAD
LESS rest time between them = MORE LOAD
MORE reps in a set = MORE load
LESS weight used = LESS load
MORE weight used = MORE load
MORE rest time between workouts = LESS load
LESS rest time between workouts = MORE load
Deeper FAILURE in a set = MORE load
more super TECHNIQUE at a workout = MORE load
MORE MUSCLES work during exercises = MORE general load
LESS MUSCLES help target muscle = MORE target load
LARGER SPLIT = MORE target load on muscles
LARGER SPLIT = LESS general load on muscles
SPECIALIZATION = MORE load on a target muscle, LESS load on other
PERIODIZATION = MORE/LESS load on different days of the week
You see that we can now easily increase or decrease the LOAD on our muscles through training features of the program. But before we move on to the review of specific training programs, I would like to draw your attention to such an important factor as the FREQUENCY OF TRAINING FOR EACH PARTICULAR MUSCLE GROUP.
SPLIT AND REST TIME BETWEEN WORKOUTS
For a long time, all bodybuilders trained their full body within one workout. Such bodybuilding training programs were not perfect. They had to do a huge number of exercises and sets. Naturally, there was less chance to fully load muscle in the last exercises due to fatigue. And the effectiveness of such workouts was not high. Therefore, the system of split training of different muscle groups replaced the system of one training. Such split workout involves “pumping” of different muscles on different days.
SPLIT INCREASES THE TARGET MUSCLE LOAD BUT INCREASES THE REST TIME BETWEEN WORKOUTS OF THE SAME MUSCLE GROUP!
The former aspect INCREASES the load, while the latter - decreases the total LOAD. This is the main problem of SPLIT and the main difficulty of splitting by day. On the one hand, the higher your fitness level (adaptation to the load), the BIGGER TARGET LOAD you need (this is what split gives you). On the other hand, the more you split your body by training days, the less you train each individual muscle, i.e. if you look at it in absolute values, the load decreases. That’s the mistake. You need to consider your LOAD IN RELATION to your fitness and muscle size/strength. Why?
Because THE BIGGER THE MUSCLES ARE = THE RARER TRAINING THEY NEED, since they need MORE TIME for RECOVERY.
First, SPLIT will not work well in the initial phase since your workouts may be too rare (easy). And also because in the initial phase any (even very small) load will be enough to increase adaptation as it is new to you.
At an advanced stage, as adaptation (fitness) increases, SPLIT will work better because, on the one hand, you will need to give more complex load to the target muscles, and on the other hand you will need to give them more days of rest due to their larger size.
OVERALL CONCLUSION: BETTER FITNESS = MORE SPLIT, WORSE FITNESS = LESS SPLIT
Start with working out the full body in a training (without split).
As adaptation grows, you need to gradually split the full body into TWO workouts. And then into THREE workouts. Very experienced athletes split the body for 4-6 workouts and grow amazingly. But if a beginner takes such a program, it will work badly on two parameters (too much target load and too few workouts).
REVIEW OF DIFFERENT PROGRAMS AND SPLITS
What is the difference between a training program and a split? The training program is a broader concept, which includes both options: workout with splits and workouts for the full body.
When a training program is prepared for you, two aspects are usually kept in mind:
Splits by day (which muscle groups to train on which day)
A set of exercises in workout (which exercises must be done on a respective day)
We have already looked into the first aspect (split). But the second aspect is very vast (exercises, sets, reps, super techniques, rest, etc.). Let me try to make a SHORT REVIEW of the most popular programs so that you can use them in your training.
FULL BODY
Sit-ups on the bench with a very high decline angle 4x30,25,20,15
Squat 4x15,12,10,8
Leg curl 4x10,8,8,8
Machine calf raise 6x15,15,12,12,10,10
Bench press 4x12,10,8,7
Incline dumbbell bench press 4x10,8,8,8
Wide-grip pull-ups 4 until failure
Bent-over barbell or t-bar row 4x8
Seated dumbbell bench press 4x10,8,8,6
Hang clean 4x8
Superset
Seated dumbbell curl 5x8
Lying triceps extension 5x12
SPLIT PROGRAMS (group splits by day)
Principles of forming Split in a training program
There are many options for split system of bodybuilding programs. The most common ideas for beginners are to split into two days by groups:
1 upper body - lower body
One day we train upper body (shoulders, back, chest, arms). The other day we train lower body (legs, calves, abs). The advantage is that only the specified muscles work on each training day. Others are not involved, because when working out your legs, the upper body is not involved and vice versa. The weakness of such Split is overloaded “upper” day.
2 pull - push
One day we train pulling muscle groups (back, biceps). The other day we train pushing muscle groups (chest, deltoids, triceps). We train our legs on a day that suits us better. The advantage is a more targeted training of the upper body. However, with this scheme we have to spend less time on our legs.
3 big - small
One day we train the two largest muscle groups (back and legs). The other day we train all the little ones and chest (chest, deltoids, arms). This allows to devote sufficient time for training of the two most important muscle groups (back and legs), which determine the basic weight of the total muscle mass. And on the second day we work out those muscles that one way or another work in conjunction with each other (chest, deltoids, arms). Any chest presses will involve deltoids and arms. So it’s not a bad idea to combine them.
DOUBLE SPLIT
Day 1 Lower body (legs, abs, calves)
Day 2 Upper body (back, chest, shoulders, arms)
Or (alternatively)
Day 1 - Legs, back, abs.
Day 2 - Chest, shoulders, arms.
Day 1 -rest-
Day 2 - A) Legs, back, abs.
Day 3 -rest-
Day 4 B) Chest, shoulders, arms
Day 5 -rest-
Day 6 A) Legs, back, abs.
Day 7 -rest-
Day 8 B) - Chest, shoulders, arms.
Etc.
A) Legs, back, abs.
1. Roman chair 4 sets X maximum number of reps
2. Barbell back squat 2X20 (warm-up) + 3X10 (working sets)
2. Lying leg curl 1X20 (warm-up) + 3X10 (working sets)
4. Pull-ups or lateral pulldown 4X8-10
5. Bent-over barbell row 4X8-10
B) Chest, shoulders, arms.
1. Incline barbell bench press (30o) 2X15 (warm-up) + 3X6-8
2. Dumbbell bench press 4X6-8
3. Overhead press (military press) 1X10 (warm-up) + 3X8-10
4. Barbell biceps curl 1X15 (warm-up) + 4X6-10
5. Triceps dips or barbell skull crusher 4X6-10
TRIPLE SPLIT
1. Presses (chest, deltoids, triceps)
2. Rows (back, biceps)
3. Legs
OR
• 1. Legs
• 2. Back, Deltoids
• 3. Chest, Arms
Here’s the Set of exercises:
А) LEGS
• 1. Roman chair 4 sets X maximum number of reps
• 2. Barbell Back Squat 2X20 (warm-up) + 3X10 (working sets)
• 3. Leg press 3X10 (working sets)
• Stiff-legged deadlift
• Lying leg curl 1X20 (warm-up) + 3X10 (working sets)
• 6. Standing calf raise 1X20 (warm up) + 3X10 (working sets)
B) BACK, DELTOIDS
• 1. Pull-ups or lateral pulldown 4X6-10
• 2. Bent-over barbell or t-bar row 4X6-10
• 3. Bent-over one arm dumbbell row 2-3X6-10
• 4. Overhead press 2X15 (warm-up) + 3X6-10
• 5. Dumbbell lateral raise 1X20 + 3X6-10
• 6. Reverse fly 3X6-10
C) CHEST, ARMS
• 1. Bench press 2X15 (warm-up) + 3X6-10
• 2. Incline dumbbell bench press 4x6-10
• 3. Chest fly 3Х8-10
• 4. Barbell biceps curl 1X15 (warm-up) + 4X6-10
• 5. Dips 4×6-10
• 6. Barbell skull crusher 4X6-10
PROFESSIONAL SPLIT
Split into 4 muscle groups:
Chest
Back
Shoulders Arms
Legs
Or split into 5 muscle groups (male):
Mon BACK
Tue CHEST
Wed
Thu LEGS
Fri SHOULDERS
Sat ARMS
Sun
Mon BACK
1.Pull-ups (or Lateral pulldown) 2 (warm-up) + 4 X 6-12
2.Bent-over barbell or t-bar1 (warm-up) + 4 Х 6-12
3.Bent-over one arm dumbbell row 4 Х 6-12
4.Seated cable3 Х 6-12
5.Seated cable row: (8 reps + 15-30 sec) Х 6 sets
Tue CHEST
1.Incline barbell bench3 (warm-up) + 4 Х 6-12
2.Incline dumbbell bench1 (warm-up) + 4 Х 6-12
3.Chest1 (warm-up) + 4 Х 8-12
4.Incline barbell or dumbbell bench(8 reps + 15-30 sec) Х 6 sets
Thu LEGS
1.Standing calf raise (or calf2 (warm-up) + 4 Х 12-20
2.Barbell back squat (or leg3 (warm-up) + 4 Х 6-12
3.Seated leg1 (warm-up) + 4 Х 8-15
4.Stiff-legged2 (warm-up) + 4 Х 8-12
5.Lying leg1 (warm-up) + 4 Х 8-15
6.
Fri SHOULDERS
1.Overhead press (or overhead dumbbell3 (warm-up) + 4 Х 6-12
2.Barbell or dumbbell upright1 (warm-up) + 4 Х 8-12
3.Dumbbell lateral1 (warm-up) + 4 Х 8-15
4.Reverse fly (warm-up) + 4 Х 8-15
5.Dumbbell lateral(3rd drop-set + 15-30 sec rest time) Х 3 sets
Sat ARMS
1.Barbell biceps2 (warm-up) + 4 Х 6-12
2.Close grip bench press (or dips) 2 (warm-up) + 4 Х 6-12
3.Hammer1 (warm-up) + 4 Х 6-12
4.Overhead barbell or dumbbell triceps1 (warm-up) + 4 Х 6-12
5.superset: Barbell biceps curl + triceps pushdown (8 reps + 10 reps + rest 15-30 sec) Х 5 sets
6.
HIGH-INTENSITY TRAINING PROGRAMS
There are two opposite views on the volume of necessary load during a workout in modern bodybuilding. There is a classic German training focused on HIGH power load (i.e. many sets and exercises during a workout). And there is Mike Mentzer High-Intensity Training, whose supporters are sure that the training should be in a LOW POWER LOAD (1-2 sets), but to the point of failure. The methods are just the opposite, as you can imagine. Who's right, then? What is the better way to grow muscles?
Arthur Jones offered High-Intensity Training:
Doing very few sets in a workout session
These sets must be done until complete failure.
Lots of rest between muscle workouts
The essence of High-Intensity Training. It is very simple: a small amount of power work (few sets), but until complete failure, followed by many days of rest.
WORKOUT 1
Chest: Chest fly + Bench press 1×6-10
·BACK: Pullover + Lateral pulldown (superset) 1×6-10
·BACK: Deadlift 1×6-10
(+ 3 FULL REST DAYS, next workout on day 4)
WORKOUT 2
·LEGS: Leg extensions + Leg press (superset) 1×6-10
·LEGS: Standing calf raise 1×6-10
(+ 3 FULL REST DAYS, next workout on day 4)
WORKOUT 3
·DELTOIDS: Dumbbell lateral raise 1×6-10
·DELTOIDS: Reverse fly 1×6-10
·ARMS: Barbell biceps curl 1×6-10
·ARMS: Triceps pushdown + dips 1×6-10
(+ 3 FULL REST DAYS, next workout on day 4)
WORKOUT 4
·LEGS: Leg extension + Squat 1×6-10
·LEGS: Standing calf raise 1×6-10
(+ 3 FULL REST DAYS, repeat cycle on day 4)
RESULT:
Full cycle = 16 days (more than two weeks)
Each workout is followed by three full days of rest
The legs are worked out twice during this cycle and all other muscles once.
ONE work set (6-10 reps) UNTIL FAILURE in each exercise
SUPERSET (isolation + base) for provisional muscle fatigue.
Why is High-Intensity Training working?
There are many mistakes traditionally made by athletes who are “treated” by Mike Mentzer training. Here are the TWO basic ones:
LOAD DOES NOT MATCH THE ATHLETE’S RECOVERY CAPABILITIES People do too much power work, forgetting that the body needs to be prepared for such a powerful stress gradually, or it will become over-trained, which is the case for half of beginner bodybuilders.
NO LOAD PROGRESSION. People go to the gym for years doing the same volume of power work with the same weights. That is, the load does not increase. Which means the muscles don’t have to grow either.
HIGH-VOLUME TRAINING PROGRAMS
Large muscles allow the athlete to do hard power work for a LONG time (within an hour) without fatigue. Big muscles is like a huge factory, with monstrous production capacity, which can execute the order for one unit (which can be done by many smaller organizations in your city), or can execute the order for the entire batch of units. And it will do it faster than anyone in your city, simply because its size and capacity allow it to do more work.
MORE POWER WORK = MORE MUSCLE
That’s why there are so many sets in a bodybuilding workout and so little rest between them (usually about 1 minute). This strategy has been developed experimentally among athletes in order to “embrace” as much of the load as possible within the workout time.
And this is what fundamentally distinguishes big muscles from any other adaptation in our body. Big muscles are not maximum strength. Big muscles are the maximum power capacity. I.e. the ability to perform strength work long with minimal rest between sets.
Now you realize that you have to think about what size gives, not about size itself. And it gives us the ADAPTATION TO HIGH-VOLUME POWER LOAD!!! Teach your muscles to do a large volume of power work, and you will get big muscles.
Increase in the volume of load on them should be very long and slow, so that your body and muscles have TIME FOR ADAPTATION (growth). If you do this at once (quickly), your body will in most cases be severely overtrained. You can forget about any muscle growth for a long time, because you will undermine your body’s capabilities with too much load.
· You can increase the WEIGHT ON THE BARBELL each workout
· You can increase the VOLUME OF WORK (do more sets) in a workout
Four-day split (chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs)
Mon CHEST
1.Incline barbell bench6х6-12
2.Incline dumbbell bench6х6-12
3.Push-ups or dips 6x6-12
Tue BACK
1.Deadlift 10,8,6,3.
2.Iso-lateral row 6x6-12
3.Lateral pulldown 6x6-12
4.Seated row 6х6-12
Thu Shoulders - Arms
1.Overhead barbell triceps extensions or seated dumbbell bench press 6х6-12
2.Upright row 6x6-12
3.Dumbbell lateral raise 6x6-12
4.Barbell biceps6х6-12
5.Close grip bench6х6-12
Fri. Legs
1.Barbell back squat 6x6-12
2.Leg press 6х6-12
3.Seated leg extension 6х6-15
4.Standing calf raise 6х15-20
5.Seated calf raise 6х15-20
6.
CONCLUSION
The main differences in training programs lie in three aspects:
Volume (number of exercises and sets) of workout - split
Weight in sets (6 to 20 reps)
Rest (between sets and rest between workouts)
Each particular technique advertises itself as the best. Unfortunately, there aren’t many methods to be used, and if there was one, we would have calculated it experimentally long ago. Why isn’t that happening?
For two reasons:
The body gets used to any workout and reduces its response to it over time, so you need to INCREASE STRESS
MAIN POINT: maximum size of muscles is a set of various parameters of power ADAPTATION to STRESS, each of which requires an appropriate training
The second point is adaptation. The task of muscles is to get used to heavy stress (load). When this happens, adaptation (growth) stops. The longer a person trains according to a certain technique, the better his or her body is adapted to it and the harder it is to achieve new adaptations (growth). In this case you have to change the program (making it harder).
TRAINING PROGRAM is basically the REGULAR STRESS/LOAD that you apply to your body so that it ADAPTED TO THEM (muscle growth and strength)!
THE MAIN TASK: MAKE THE LOAD (TRAINING) OPTIMAL FOR A PARTICULAR PERSON!
THE MORE TRAINED a person is = THE MORE LOAD he or she needs
THE MORE GENETIC a person is = THE MORE LOAD he or she needs
THE OLDER a person is = THE LESS LOAD he or she needs
THE LESS STRESS in life = THE MORE LOAD he or she needs
THE WORSE NUTRITION = THE LESS LOAD he or she needs
You do not need to know “absolute values” (this is not possible). You need to know “RELATIVE THINGS”, i.e. WHAT INCREASES THE STRESS (LOAD). AND WHAT REDUCES IT. The trainer knows it all perfectly. These are the RELATIVE INDICATORS:
MORE exercises and sets = MORE LOAD
LESS rest time between them = MORE LOAD
MORE reps in a set = MORE load
LESS weight used = LESS load
MORE weight used = MORE load
MORE rest time between workouts = LESS load
LESS rest time between workouts = MORE load
Deeper FAILURE in a set = MORE load
more super TECHNIQUE at a workout = MORE load
MORE MUSCLES work during exercises = MORE general load
LESS MUSCLES help target muscle = MORE target load
LARGER SPLIT = MORE target load on muscles
LARGER SPLIT = LESS general load on muscles
SPECIALIZATION = MORE load on a target muscle, LESS load on other
PERIODIZATION = MORE/LESS load on different days of the week
That's all! Thank you!
