5-Day Gym Workout Routine: guide and 4 free routines

What is a 5-day routine

A 5-day routine spreads your training over five sessions a week and leaves two days free. There are three common ways to build it. The first is a 4-day upper-lower with an extra fifth day. The second is the classic split by muscle group, with one day for chest, one for back, one for legs, one for shoulders and one for arms. The third mixes the two, with push, pull and leg days plus an upper body session, as in the 5-day push pull legs.

More days don't give better results on their own. What matters most is how many hard sets each muscle does per week, how close to failure you finish each set and that you raise the load over time. The fifth day is useful to spread more sets without making each session longer, or to give more work to what you want to improve.

With the same weekly volume, splitting the body or training it all in every session gives similar strength and muscle results (Ramos-Campo et al., 2024, a meta-analysis of 14 studies). Choosing between one and the other depends mostly on your days, the length of each session and which one is easier for you to stick with.

How to spread the 5 days

The three versions follow a similar pattern, with three training days, one rest day and two more. The rest day in the middle of the week breaks up the streak, and Sunday stays free.

Three ways to build a 5-day week
Day	Upper-lower	By muscle group	Mixed
Monday	Upper A	Chest	Push
Tuesday	Lower A	Back	Pull
Wednesday	Rest	Legs	Legs
Thursday	Upper B	Rest	Rest
Friday	Lower B	Shoulders	Upper
Saturday	Extra day	Arms	Legs B
Sunday	Rest	Rest	Rest

In Upper-Legs 5 Days, the extra day is a light weak-point day, with shoulders, arms and abs. In Upper-lower 5 days advanced, the fifth day is a third upper day, so the upper body is trained three times and the legs twice. Body part split 5 days follows the order by muscle group, and Recomp 5 days follows the mix and closes the week with a second leg day and cardio.

Recovery depends on which muscles repeat. In upper-lower, each half rests at least a day before coming back. In the split by muscle group, each large muscle is trained directly once a week, although arms and shoulders also work in the presses and rows of other days. That is why arm day goes far from chest day and back day. The ACSM (2009) points out that the right frequency depends on volume, recovery capacity and how many muscles you train in each session, so there is no single correct split.

If your week doesn't allow that order, any split works as long as you don't put two back-to-back days that load the same muscles hard. If you can't train one day, move the rest instead of squeezing two sessions into one.

Who a 5-day routine is for

Intermediate or advanced level. The ACSM (2009) proposes 2 to 3 days for beginners, 3 to 4 for the intermediate level and 4 to 5 for the advanced level. The routines in this list are intermediate or advanced.
If you want more sets without long sessions. Upper-Legs 5 Days spreads the work over sessions of about 65 minutes and leaves the fifth day for shoulders, arms and abs.
If you are after high volume. Upper-lower 5 days advanced and Body part split 5 days add more sets per muscle, with sessions of 75 to 80 minutes.
If you want to lose fat without losing muscle. Recomp 5 days uses moderate volume, supersets and cardio, in sessions of about 55 minutes. In people with overweight, combining weights with fewer calories lowered body fat percentage the most and kept lean mass (Lopez et al., 2022). Also see the cutting routines and the calorie calculator.
A week with five real days. If missing days is common, a 5-day routine where you skip one every week does less than a complete 4-day one. See the 4-day routines.

If you are just starting, you don't need 5 days. The ACSM (2026) points out that many different programs work for beginners, as long as they progress and stick with it, and that small doses of training already give clear gains in strength and muscle. With 2 or 3 days you learn the exercises and recover well between sessions. See the beginner routines or the 3-day routines.

Volume and frequency per muscle

To build muscle, what matters most is how many hard sets each muscle does per week. More sets, more growth, in a dose-response relationship (Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger, 2017). The ACSM (2026) associates the greatest hypertrophy with 10 or more sets per muscle per week, and sees the gain flatten around 18 to 20. Pelland et al. (2026), with 67 studies, also find that each extra set adds a little less.

Frequency is how many times a week you train each muscle. A meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger (2016) saw more hypertrophy with twice a week than with once. A later one, with 25 studies, found no differences when weekly volume is the same (Schoenfeld, Grgic and Krieger, 2019), and the ACSM (2026) also saw no differences between one day and more than five with the same volume. Frequency is mostly useful for spreading the sets.

That is the difference between the 5-day versions. In upper-lower, each muscle is trained two or three times and each session carries few sets per area. In the split by muscle group, each large muscle gets all of its sets on a single day. In trained men, working each muscle 3 times a week with full body gave more thickness in the elbow flexors than a one-group-per-day routine, with no strength differences (Schoenfeld et al., 2015). For strength, frequency seems to matter a bit more (Pelland et al., 2026).

Direct sets per week in three Mobbe 5-day routines
Muscle	Upper-Legs 5 Days	Upper-lower 5 days advanced	Body part split 5 days
Chest	8 over 2 days	11 over 3 days	13 over 1 day
Back	10 over 2 days	11 over 3 days	17 over 1 day
Shoulders	6 over 2 days	9 over 3 days	14 over 1 day
Quads	11 over 2 days	14 over 2 days	11 over 1 day
Hamstrings	6 over 2 days	10 over 2 days	7 over 1 day

The table counts the sets where each muscle is the primary one and the days on which it is worked. The main lifts also add to other muscles. In the split by muscle group, the triceps work again in the shoulder press, and the chest and triceps in the close grip bench press on arm day.

Sets count if they are hard. Reaching failure does not give more muscle than stopping close to it (Refalo et al., 2023), and the ACSM (2026) proposes finishing with 2 or 3 reps in reserve. Every Mobbe routine lists the RIR for its exercises.

Common mistakes with 5-day routines

Taking every set to failure. With five days a week fatigue accumulates. In one study, reaching failure delayed recovery by up to 24 to 48 hours (Morán-Navarro et al., 2017). If a routine says RIR 0, it is only on some isolation exercise at the end of the day, like the leg extension or the cable lateral raise.
Turning the extra day into another heavy day. The weak-point day in Upper-Legs 5 Days comes with more reps in reserve than the rest. If you arrive tired to that session, cut sets before skipping the main days.
Making a single muscle group's day too long. In the split by muscle group it is tempting to keep adding exercises until you can't go on. The last sets of a long session are done with more fatigue and contribute less. Pick exercises that change the angle and stop adding when your technique starts to slip.
Cutting rest to finish sooner. Resting less than 60 seconds tends to cut volume (Singer et al., 2024). If you are short on time, supersets save time without removing sets or holding back strength and muscle gains, although they feel harder (Zhang et al., 2025). Recomp 5 days uses them on almost all its days.

How to progress on a 5-day routine

Mobbe's 5-day routines use double progression, which combines adding reps and raising weight. Plotkin et al. (2022) compared the two separately in trained people over 8 weeks, and both worked.

Pick a weight that lets you reach the bottom of the range with the indicated RIR. If the routine says 4 × 6–8 at RIR 1, look for a weight you can lift for at least 6 reps with 1 left in reserve.
Add reps session after session with that weight, without changing your technique or range of motion.
Go up by the smallest increase when all sets reach the top of the range, and start again from the bottom.

If an exercise shows up twice in the week with different ranges, like the back squat and the front squat on the two leg days, progress each one separately. The ACSM (2009) proposes raising the load by 2 to 10% when you do 1 or 2 more reps than targeted in two sessions in a row. To choose your starting weight, use the 1RM calculator.

If your performance drops for several sessions in a row, check your sleep and food before adding work. To build muscle you also need to eat enough protein, and the protein calculator gives you the grams for your weight. If it stays the same, do a week with about half the sets and the same load. The consensus by Bell et al. (2023) defines a deload as a period with less volume, and sees no evidence that you need to schedule it every so many weeks.

In Mobbe every set is saved. When you train, you see what you did in the previous session on each exercise, and in Progress you see how your records go up.

Questions about 5-day routines

Is upper-lower or one muscle per day better?

With the same weekly volume, both give similar results (Ramos-Campo et al., 2024). Upper-lower spreads each muscle's sets over more days and makes for shorter sessions. The split by muscle group puts all of a muscle's work into one long session. Pick the one that is easier for you to stick with.

What do I do if I miss a day?

Pick up where you left off on your next available day and move the rest. If only four days fit in the week, leave the extra day or the one you care about least for next week, and don't squeeze two sessions into one.

How long should I rest between sets?

To build muscle, more than 60 seconds. Beyond 90 it hardly changes the result (Singer et al., 2024). On heavy main lifts, if you are after strength, more than 2 minutes works better in trained people (Grgic et al., 2018).

Can I do cardio with a 5-day routine?

Yes. In a meta-analysis of 43 studies, adding aerobic exercise did not hold back muscle or maximal strength (Schumann et al., 2022). If you do both on the same day, lifting weights first was associated with more leg strength (Murlasits et al., 2018). That is why in [Recomp 5 days](rutina:recomposicion-5-dias) the cardio goes at the end.

5-day gym workout routine

What is a 5-day routine

How to spread the 5 days

Who a 5-day routine is for

Volume and frequency per muscle

Common mistakes with 5-day routines

How to progress on a 5-day routine

Questions about 5-day routines

Is upper-lower or one muscle per day better?

What do I do if I miss a day?

How long should I rest between sets?

Can I do cardio with a 5-day routine?

Sources

4 5-day gym routines

More routines

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