What are the Best Workout Splits for Women?

Ladies, whether your goal is to construct muscle, shed weight, or just get stronger, the very best solution to achieve your required results is to follow a workout plan. 

Following a workout split will provide your training with structure, which ensures you never walk into the gym without specific exercises, targeted muscles, and goals for reps and sets in mind. It also sets you as much as successfully progressive overload, which is important for constructing muscle.

For those who’ve never lifted before, you will have some preconceived notions surrounding women and weight lifting. Some common misconceptions include the concept that resistance training is healthier for men, lifting heavy will make you too bulky, and that men and ladies should train the very same way.

The reality is that there are differences between men and ladies and training styles and programs might barely differ, but at the top of the day, resistance training is useful for EVERYONE. The principle of progressive overload doesn’t care in case you’re male or female.

With that in mind, let’s get into the highest workout splits for girls. I’ve highlighted multiple options, so you’ll find the one best suited to your goals, schedule, and time available. Let’s go, ladies!

 Table of Contents:

• What Are Workout Splits?
• Why Workout Splits For Women Are Essential
• Top 5 Kinds of Workout Splits
• Top 3 Workout Splits For Women
• Considerations For Selecting The Best Workout Splits For Women
• Suggestions For Programming The Best Workout Split
• FAQs 

WHAT ARE WORKOUT SPLITS?

Workout splits are defined as how and if you’re training every week. The factors that determine your workout split include what number of days per week you’ll workout, what muscles you are training every day, and the form of exercises you perform each training session.

Whatever the workout split you select, the answers to the questions below will narrow down your best options:

• What’s your typical schedule?
• What are your training goals?
• What’s your fitness level?

After answering these FITT principle questions, you may higher understand one of the best workout split for you as a lady. For those who’re seeking to progress in your fitness journey, it is best to arrange and plan your training so that you would be able to put yourself able to realize your set goals. 

Why Workout Splits For Women Are Essential

Having a set workout split lets you train more efficiently and effectively. The first advantages of following a workout split are:

• You may train various muscle groups with an intensity and frequency, which gets you to your end goal while allowing proper rest and recovery times. 
• You’ve got a set regimen and structure that makes it easier to remain accountable while tracking your progress higher.
• You guarantee that you simply’re hitting all the foremost muscle groups evenly, thus avoiding the creation of any imbalances or weaknesses. 

After you’ve got narrowed in on a workout split that suits your goals and schedule, then you definitely can break down your gym sessions into the exercises that relate to your chosen split. For instance, in case you resolve to do a push-pull workout split, you may start Monday’s workout with bench press, overhead press, and triceps pushdowns. 

Not having a workout split is comparable to walking right into a supermarket without knowing what you wish. You purchase many things and get home only to understand you forgot that essential item. You’ve got something to eat but not precisely what you needed or wanted. 

Workout routines for each men and ladies are essential for any training program that expects results. 

TOP 5 TYPES OF WORKOUT SPLITS

Listed below are the most well-liked workout splits, although there are others on the market. 

We’ll cover one of the best 3 of those 5 workout splits for girls. As you will have guessed, the bro split probably is not a wonderful selection for most ladies (and most men*). The opposite routine that we can’t go into detail about is the push-pull leg split, as we expect most ladies are suited higher to the primary 3 workout splits listed above. 

TOP 3 WORKOUT SPLITS FOR WOMEN

Now that we covered a few of the differences between men and ladies in response to resistance training, we’ll go over the three best workout splits for girls.  

1. Full Body Workout Routine:

A full-body workout split is not exactly a split, as you are not splitting anything, you might be training your full body. The routine will involve you training muscles in each your upper and lower body throughout the same session.  

With full-body workouts, you may use mostly compound exercises that cover all of the muscles within the body as an alternative of working each body part individually. The goal here is to work the complete body in a daily workout session that does not take excessive time. 

Your schedule will dictate what number of days per week you create your full body workout routine around. 3-day full-body workout plans are probably essentially the most common. Nevertheless, it’s manageable to do a 2 day and even 4-day full body plan. You will need no less than 24 hours between workout sessions in order that your muscles can get well and repair. Rest days between workout sessions may also enable you conserve energy in order that the following time you hit the gym, the intensity level doesn’t drop. 

If keen on a full-body routine, take a look at our Ultimate Full Body Workout For Women!

Here’s a take a look at what a weekly full-body workout split might seem like: 

• Day 1: Full Body Workout
• Day 2: Rest
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Full Body Workout
• Day 5-7: Rest

2 DAY FULL BODY WORKOUT PLAN FOR WOMEN

By only understanding twice per week, your workout session might need to be a bit longer to suit enough volume in to hit all the foremost muscle groups. Overall, you may concentrate on a number of core exercises and have less variety than a 3 or 4-day workout split.  

Full Body Workout 1: 

Full Body Workout 2:

3 DAY FULL BODY WORKOUT PLAN FOR WOMEN

• Day 1: Full Body Workout
• Day 2: Rest
• Day 3: Full Body Workout
• Day 4: Rest
• Day 5: Full Body Workout
• Day 6 & 7: Rest

The key difference with the 3-day full body split is adding more variety.  

Full Body Workout 1: 

Full Body Workout 2:

Full Body Workout 3: 

4 DAY FULL BODY WORKOUT PLAN FOR WOMEN

• Day 1: Full Body Workout
• Day 2: Rest
• Day 3: Full Body Workout
• Day 4: Rest
• Day 5: Full Body Workout
• Day 6: Rest
• Day 7: Full Body Workout
• Day 8: Rest
• Repeat

This 4-day full-body workout split lets you get a more well-rounded choice of exercises at the next volume. It is vital to notice that you will need a day of rest between a workout schedule for girls that targets the same muscle group each time, so plan accordingly by spreading these workouts out throughout the week.

Full Body Workout 1:

Full Body Workout 2:

Full Body Workout 3:

Full Body Workout 4:

BENEFITS OF A FULL-BODY WORKOUT ROUTINE FOR WOMEN

Listed below are my favorite perks of following a full-body workout routine.

• Great for beginners: For those who’re a lady and also you’re just entering into weight training, full-body workout plans can provide enough volume to stimulate muscle growth quickly.  
• Perfect for individuals with busy schedules: This split is right for busy people as you needn’t dedicate 5 days and countless hours within the gym. You may get a number of 45-minute workouts in throughout the week and still see results as that is efficient training where you are not targeting and isolating smaller specific muscles.  
• It’s flexible: This split is a superb selection as you’ll be able to alter what number of days you lift per week from week to week without jeopardizing your progress. This aspect is important in case you schedule training around menstrual cycles. For instance, suppose you normally follow a 3-day full-body workout routine. In that case, you can add one other day throughout the first half of your menstrual cycles where you’ll be able to get essentially the most advantages. Then you definitely can remain at 3 sessions or drop all the way down to 2 sessions per week throughout the second half, where recovery might take longer, and energy levels might drop a bit. 

CONS OF A FULL-BODY WORKOUT ROUTINE FOR WOMEN

Take a take a look at the downsides of this split as well, so you’ve gotten a solid understanding of its pros and cons.

• May not have enough variety & volume: For ladies who’re bodybuilding or seeking to placed on serious muscle while adding strength, the full-body workout plan may not give you sufficient variety to hit all muscles with proper volume.
• Less customizable: Trained women who’re more advanced of their resistance training may not be satisfied with the shortage of room to customize workouts and hit smaller muscles with isolation exercises. 

2. Upper Lower Workout Split For Women:

The upper-lower body workout split consists of breaking your training sessions into either upper body or lower body days.  

Upper Body Muscles: Chest, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, Biceps

Lower Body Muscles: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings, Calves 

The upper/lower body split is comparable to the complete body split in that you will be focusing most of your effort on the larger compound movements.

Note: You may throw in some core exercises on either your upper or lower body days. Most individuals will do core on lower body days regardless that it’s technically a part of the upper body. This is especially because of having fewer lower-body muscles, so you may have beyond regular time to hit the core. Nevertheless, in case you’re feeling adventurous, you may also do core on each!

You may run an upper-lower split from 2-6 days per week, which provides you some flexibility in arranging your training. Probably the most common upper/lower split can be 4 days per week in order that you’ve gotten two upper days and two lower days.

Let’s have a take a look at a sample 4-day upper/lower split.

• Day 1: Upper Workout
• Day 2: Lower Workout
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Upper Workout
• Day 5: Lower Workout
• Day 6-7: Rest 

Note: You’ve got the liberty to rearrange your workouts as you want regarding sets/reps, training methods like drop sets/reverse pyramid/ supersets. Do not forget that your workouts’ foundation should include the important compound lifts followed by any accessory or isolation lifts.  

Listed below are a few of the important compound lifts that might be included in your upper/lower split:

For Upper-Body Days: Bench Press and Overhead Press, Bent Over Rows, Pull-Ups, Lat Pulldowns, DB Bench Press, Dips

For Lower-Body Days: Squats, Deadlifts, Hip Thrusts, Lunges, Stiff Leg Deadlifts, Leg press

Note: You’ll include each pushing and pulling exercises in your workout days. It is also necessary to say that these workouts are based on gym workout routines for girls; nonetheless, many might be easily adjusted in order that they work for girls preferring at-home workouts.

Upper Body Workout #1:

Lower Body Workout #1:

Upper Body Workout #2:

Lower Body Workout #2:

BENEFITS OF AN UPPER/LOWER WORKOUT SPLIT FOR WOMEN

Ladies, here’s why you may love following an upper-lower workout split. 

• More volume: The upper/lower split is a superb selection for girls who need to take their weight lifting pursuits a tad more seriously, because the upper/lower split is the center ground between a full-body split and a body part split.  
• Great for toning & muscle constructing: It’s great for girls who need to construct and tone muscle throughout the body. The upper/lower split allows for optimum intensity with ample recovery times. Using a 4-day upper/lower split, you may give you the chance to get the optimal training volume in to realize hypertrophy.
• More lower body work: As mentioned above, women appear to get well faster than men and might tolerate lower body work. With the upper/lower split, you’ll get two full days of legs and glutes; that is appealing to many ladies I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Some even go harder and throw in an additional lower body day every week.
• Flexible: The high degree of flexibility can be great for girls who live busy lives and can have a family duty to take care of at a moment’s notice. As well as, the upper/lower split has enough wiggle room so that you would be able to reschedule a workout if need be. And for individuals who contend with menstrual cycles, the upper/lower is an excellent fit if you should overload your training throughout the first half, then reduce just a little throughout the last half.  

Searching for some exercise inspiration to get you began? These arm workouts for girls and these bicep workouts for girls each goal the complete upper body, making them an awesome option on your upper body days.

CONS OF AN UPPER/LOWER WORKOUT SPLIT FOR WOMEN 

 Listed below are a number of downsides to the upper-lower split.

• Upper-body days take more time: Upper-day workouts run just a little longer than lower-body days for essentially the most part because of the upper variety of muscles to work. Nevertheless, most ladies aren’t overly concerned about getting the additional volume in to exhaust upper body muscles as their important goals aren’t normally aligned with men who want big arms or broad shoulders. For an awesome upper body routine, take a look at: 
• May be harder for beginners: For those who are recent to weight lifting, this workout split may take up an excessive amount of time and include an excessive amount of volume for you. But everyone seems to be different, so it is important to contemplate your goals and starting fitness level.

3. Push-Pull Workout Split: 

The push-pull workout split is sort of a stepchild of the full-body split and upper/lower split. With the push-pull split, you should have each upper and lower body exercises throughout the same workout session, however the body mechanics shall be the identical, either pushing or pulling. 

Let’s take a take a look at what this looks like below:

Push Day Exercises:

• Horizontal Pushes: Push-Ups, Bench Press
• Vertical Pushes: Overhead Press, DB Press
• Lower Body Pushes: Squat variations, Leg Extensions, Calf Raises 

Pulling Exercises:

• Horizontal Pulls: Row variations
• Vertical Pulls: Pull-Ups, Pulldowns
• Lower Body Pulls: Deadlifts and all hip hinge exercises 

Note: Core exercises might be added to either the push/pull days or each. Some compound exercises will work your core like squats and deadlifts but be happy to throw in some extra core work, possibly a number of that work you thru the transverse plane. 

The standard push-pull split is predicated on 4 days, so you’ll have two pull day workouts and a couple of pushing day workouts weekly. Nevertheless, you can also do the push-pull split from 2-6 days per week; just make sure that to remain balanced from week to week. 

I’ll provide a sample 4 day push-pull split as that is the most well-liked option that permits for correct training volume and rests. Please note that you would be able to change the sequence of exercises inside each of the workouts week to week.

Here’s a fast breakdown of what your 4-day push-pull split will seem like:

• Day 1: Push A
• Day 2: Pull A
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Push B
• Day 5: Pull B
• Day 6-7: Rest  

Push A Workout:

Pull A Workout:

Push B Workout:

Pull B Workout: 

BENEFITS OF A PUSH-PULL SPLIT FOR WOMEN

A push-pull split provides similar pros that the upper/lower and full body split gives by way of training volume, frequency, and adaptability. As well as, a number of other awesome pros include:

• Great for weight reduction & muscle-building: Excellent for burning calories and getting toned, as you may be doing multiple big compound movements throughout the same session. 
• Flexible: This split supports a versatile schedule where you’ll be able to turn up and limit the training volume as your schedule sees fit. 

CONS OF A PUSH-PULL SPLIT FOR WOMEN

Listed below are some cons of the push-pull split to contemplate.

• Lengthy workouts: Workouts generally is a bit long since you’re working each upper and lower body muscles throughout the same workout session. 
• Higher intensity split: Push-pull splits are likely to have the next intensity as you should have greater than one in all the large 4 compound lifts inside a session. For instance, you may have a bench press, shoulder press, and squats on push days. The push-pull split requires maximum output, so make sure that you are feeling as much as the duty. 

CONSIDERATIONS FOR CHOOSING THE BEST WORKOUT SPLIT FOR WOMEN (BACKED BY SCIENCE)

The very fact is that men and ladies will gain muscle and strength if following a workout split that adheres to the progressive overload principle. Although men have more muscle-building hormones reminiscent of testosterone, it appears that girls can grow muscle at similar rates as men and with higher relative strength, in line with this meta-analysis.

Alternatively, there’s one other study that found untrained men and ladies gained muscle and strength at comparable rates.

Perhaps an oversimplification, one of the crucial significant differences between the genders regarding fitness is that girls are likely to favor more cardio and group training than men, as highlighted in this study. 

One other general difference is surrounding men’s and ladies’s training goals. Nearly all of men have their mindset on constructing a solid chest, broad shoulders, wide back, and massive arms, whereas women are likely to favor training the core and lower body, especially the glutes and legs.

The guiding rule is identical, irrespective of which gender or what muscles you would like to construct, you have to increase volume over time. This implies lifting heavier weights and/or more reps.  

With those generalizations out of the way in which, let’s have a take a look at some research that may sway you to follow a best workout routine for girls.  

1) Women Get well Faster:

Everyone knows women as badass, but did you understand in addition they appear to get well faster from intense training. Here’s a study where men and ladies participants performed low rep high-intensity bench press of as much as a 5-rep max.

Then, they were tested again at resting intervals of 4-, 24-, and 48-hour time periods. Surprisingly, there have been no differences in strength output from women while the boys saw decreases on the 4- and 24-hour recovery sessions. 

2) Women Can Handle Higher Frequency Lower Body Work:

To grasp how resistance training affects women on the subject of frequency, intensity, muscle, and strength gain, researchers reviewed 24 studies. This meta-analysis concluded that girls could tolerate a high frequency of lower-body resistance training with positive outcomes.

Training the lower body 2-4 times per week showed promising results. Alternatively, this high frequency might need diminishing returns if men were to try it.  

3) Women May Respond Higher to Heavier Loads:

We all know that there is loads of research that shows higher rep low-load training can result in hypertrophy, including rep ranges over 20. This study that appears at how women reply to high load vs. low load training found that girls who trained within the 6-10 rep max loads gained way more muscle than women who trained with lower a great deal of 20-30 reps.

More research must be conducted here, but this could possibly be one other difference in genders and response to resistance training.

4) Women Can Handle More Volume:

Most individuals probably do not know that girls are in a greater position than men relating to adapting to increased training volume. Men can lift heavier loads in brief time frames, while women can execute more strength movements for more repetitions over an extended period than men.

The critical reasons for this are that girls have a faster glucose uptake than men because of more estrogen and more type 1 muscle fibers, which implies they might need the advantage of completing more endurance lifting styles.

In contrast, men have higher fasting blood glucose levels to lift heavier loads for fewer reps.  

5) Women’s Menstrual Cycles Can Alter Training:

For the ladies reading this that also should contend with menstrual cycles, you might want to contemplate the way you schedule your workout split.

In keeping with this study, women may take longer to get well muscle damage because of resistance training throughout the menstrual cycle’s luteal phase (last half). Together with that, other studies like this have suggested that it’s probably helpful to schedule your more frequent and intense training throughout the follicular phase (1st half) of the menstrual cycle. 

To place this into practice, in case you normally train 3 times per week, then you definitely might give you the chance to coach 4 times within the follicular phase to make the most of the quicker recovery times and more pronounced strength gains.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR WOMEN TO PROGRAM THE BEST WORKOUT SPLIT

Searching for a summary of an important things for girls to contemplate and the way their training should differ from men’s? Look no further – you’ve got come to the appropriate place!

TIPS FOR PROGRAMMING THE BEST WORKOUTS FOR WOMEN 

Below are two general rules that may enable you create a workout split that may yield results.

Your end goals will determine what number of reps and intensity level you do per exercise:

• Power & Strength: 1-6 reps @ 85% or more 1RM
• Hypertrophy (muscle gain): 6-12 reps @ 70-80% 1RM
• Endurance: 12-20+ reps @ 50-70% 1RM

Total weekly volume: 10-20 total sets per week per muscle group (*working sets, not including any warmups).

FAQs

Any remaining questions on one of the best workout plans for girls? Let’s answer them here!

WHAT’S THE BEST 2 DAY SPLIT FOR WOMEN? 

For those who can only fit 2 workout sessions into your weekly schedule, one of the best bet can be the complete body split. You may hit the foremost muscle groups with decent volume to remain in shape and make just a little progress by doing a full body routine twice per week.  

WHAT’S THE BEST 3 DAY SPLIT FOR WOMEN?

The perfect 3 day split for girls would probably be the full-body split once more. For those who’re capable of hit a full-body workout thrice per week, you’ll be able to burn some serious calories while toning and shaping your muscle.  

WHAT’S THE BEST 4 DAY SPLIT FOR WOMEN? 

The perfect 4 day split for girls is the upper lower or push-pull split. Using either of those splits lets you get adequate training volume to realize your goals at a faster rate. 

WHAT’S THE BEST 5 DAY SPLIT FOR WOMEN? 

The perfect 5 day split for girls is the upper-lower split. We expect this may be great for girls who need to get an additional lower body workout weekly to construct and shape the more popular feminine body parts.  

WHAT’S THE BEST 6 DAY SPLIT FOR WOMEN? 

The perfect 6 day workout plan for girls is the upper lower or the push-pull split. If you’ve gotten the energy, schedule, and motivation that permits you to get to the gym 6 days per week, then you definitely cannot go mistaken with either of those splits. You should have no less than 24 hours of rest between sessions that concentrate on the identical muscles. Quality sleep and proper weight loss plan change into much more necessary in case you’re understanding this much. 

As well as, as research shows that an emphasis on regular exercise might help prevent breast cancer, a 6-day split is an awesome solution to make sure you’re getting in enough weekly activity.

HOW CAN WOMEN GET LEAN?

Often, we are likely to overcomplicate the strategy of staying in shape. Nevertheless, there are a number of basic tenets to follow if you should stay lean and avoid falling into the trap of becoming a part of the discouraging statistics. 

Listed below are a number of steps it is best to take if you should stay or change into healthy. 

1. Follow the most effective workout splits for girls laid out on your above.
2. For those who don’t desire to follow a workout split, then it is best to still attempt to get in 2-3 days of resistance training weekly.
3. Determine your TDEE (total every day energy expenditure), then attempt to eat roughly the identical variety of calories so that you simply’re not consistently eating a surplus of calories.
4. Drink more water.
5. Eat more protein, aim for .5-.8 grams per pound of body weight (more if you should construct muscle).
6. Walk more, attempt to get 5-8000 steps in every day.
7. Do cardio, preferably 2-3 HIIT sessions of 20-Half-hour, to save lots of time and get the advantages of EPOC (Excess Post Oxygen Consumption).

Pick The Best Women’s Workout Routine For Your Goals

To all the ladies on the market, whichever workout routine you select, all of it comes all the way down to your effort, technique, weight loss plan, and sleep so that you can see actual progress. It is also essential that you simply pick a split that’s best suited to your goals and lifestyle.

Nothing value it in life comes easy, so in case you’re a newcomer to fitness or you’ve got been understanding for some time without seeing results, check out one in all the three best workout splits for girls above. With some exertions and concentrate on progressive overload, you may be constructing serious muscle very quickly!