Upper/lower split

The upper/lower split divides your training in half. Upper sessions cover pressing, pulling and arms. Lower sessions cover squats, hinges, single-leg work and calves. Core work goes into either one. Alternating them across four sessions a week gives each muscle around 48 hours to recover while still training it twice a week, which is the frequency that works best for most people.

Each session goes deeper than a full-body workout can. An upper day has room to press and pull both horizontally and overhead, and to train arms directly on top of that. Compared with a body-part split, nothing sits untrained for a full week.

A practical week runs upper, lower, rest, upper, lower, then two days off, though you can move things around. Keep one rule. Do not put two lower days back to back, because heavy squats and heavy hinges pull from the same recovery.