The traditional five-day bodybuilding week, modernized with sensible frequency, controlled volume and posing-day conditioning.
The Weekly Split
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Monday | Chest and triceps |
| Tuesday | Back and biceps |
| Wednesday | Legs |
| Thursday | Shoulders and arms |
| Friday | Weak points + posing and conditioning |
The Program
The five-day split survives because it works when fed correctly: one muscle group trained hard per session, full recovery before it appears again, and a fifth day that fixes what the mirror flags. This version adds the two things old-school plans missed — rear delt and leg frequency sanity.
Chest and triceps: incline barbell press 4x8, flat dumbbell press 3x10, cable flyes 3x12, weighted dips 3x10, rope pushdowns 3x12, overhead extensions 3x12. Back and biceps: weighted pull-ups 4x8, barbell rows 4x10, lat pulldowns 3x12, straight-arm pulldowns 3x12, barbell curls 4x10, incline curls 3x12. Legs: back squats 4x8, Romanian deadlifts 3x10, leg press 3x12, leg curls 3x12, leg extensions 3x15, calves 4x15.
Shoulders and arms: seated press 4x8, laterals 4x15, rear delt flyes 4x15, shrugs 3x12, hammer curls 3x12, spider curls 3x12, pushdowns 3x12. Day five rotates weak-point work — upper chest, rear delts or calves — and closes with 20 minutes of posing practice plus a conditioning finisher.
Volume sits at 16 to 20 hard sets per body part weekly, split across its two appearances. Rest sixty to ninety seconds; compounds two minutes. Every fourth week, cut sets by a third — the old-school week that keeps old-school bodies advancing.
This plan assumes recovery is handled: seven hours of sleep and food built around 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram. Give it twelve honest weeks before judging — classic splits build classic shapes, slowly and permanently.
Program published as original editorial content. Pair it with the training guides for technique detail.
