Best vs Worst Workout Splits RANKED (Using Science)

What are the best and worst workout splits for muscle growth? In this video, I'll be ranking seven of the most popular routines to find the top performers, all the way down to the ones that are wasting your time. At the end. I'll add a bonus factor, time efficiency, to see which split gets in most gains in the least time. Now, to make sure your workout routine doesn't end up at the bottom, it has to perform well on what I call the hypertrophy score, a measure of how well it builds muscle. To calculate this score, teamed up with PhD researcher Eric Trexler. Together we used the latest research to build a predictive growth equation focused on two key factors, frequency, how often each muscle gets trained per week, and volume, the number of sets each muscle is worked with. The best workout split will strike the perfect balance of both. Let's start with the classic the push pull leg split, where you train all your pushing muscles the first day, your pulling muscles the next day, and your legs on the third day. But the unique thing about this split is you can run in once, so you're only training three days a week. Or you can run through it twice for a total of six training days per week. I'll score the three day per week version first, which came up to a Hypertrophy score of 6.7. And while it does take the top spot on the leaderboard for now, the next split is definitely going to give it a run for its money. It's the three day full body workout split. Now, unlike the three day push pull leg split, which hits each muscle just once per week, the full body split trains every muscle three times per week. And this gives it a major advantage because based on a recent meta analysis by Josh Pellen and colleagues, they found that Training a muscle three times per week can boost strength gains by about 50% compared to training it just once per week, even with the same weekly volume. So for example, if your bench went from £100 to £150 on the pushable leg split, switching to full body could push it to 175 pounds in the same time frame. It's why I personally recommend this split for beginners who should focus on mastering and progressing their main exercises before worrying about adding more volume. But how much does this help with muscle growth? Well, while the latest data suggests frequency doesn't seem to be as important for growth, it still helps provide a small boost. And in this case, it's enough of a boost for it to take the top spot. With a hypertrophy score of 8.0.1. Next up, we're moving to a four day routine with the classic upper lower split where two days focus on upper body and two on lower body. Now, unlike the full body split, which trains each muscle three times per week, here each muscle is hit just twice per week. However, this split does allow for an extra workout day, meaning you can fit in more volume. And that may be a bigger driver of growth. For example, take a look at the grass from a recent study comparing the effect of frequency and volume on muscle growth. The frequency graph is quite flat, meaning you get just a small boost in growth as you train each muscle more frequently, whereas the volume graph moves up and to the right, suggesting that higher volumes continue to push more growth. Because of this, the upper lower split scores quite well with an 8.4, just enough for it to earn the top spot. But now it's time to set things up with five day splits, starting with my personal favorite and the routine I'm currently following, the upper lower push pull leg split. The beauty about this hybrid routine is that it allows you to fit in more volume than the four day upper lower split. But it doesn't come with the big time commitment of something like a six day push pull leg split. And with a Hypertrophy score of 9.0, it takes the top spot on our leaderboard. But will this be enough to beat the rest of our splits? Or will I end up finding something even better than what I've been doing? Let's find out by moving on to the classic five day Bro split. Unlike any of the splits we've covered so far, the Bro split involves dedicating a whole workout to each muscle group. This is what makes it a favorite among bodybuilders like Arnold, who loved working each muscle to exhaustion with tons of volume. However, since you're only training each muscle group once per week, it's probably not the best way to distribute your weekly volume. In fact, one criticism of the Bro split is the idea of junk volume. Because you're doing so much volume per workout for just one muscle, by the time you reach your third or fourth exercises in your workout, your performance drops considerably. Some believe that those exercises now become a waste of time and will be better off move to another workout day when your muscle has recovered. But we definitely need more research to see just how much of a difference this would make. For now, let's see how it scores. Is it enough to beat my personal favorite split? Not quite. It slides into a close second place with a score of 8.8. Next up, we have the five day full body workout routine, an ultra high frequency split that trains each muscle five times per week. Now, although this sounds like a bad idea, in each workout you're only doing a few sets per muscle, allowing you to push hard during those sets, yet still recover well even if you're training that same muscle the very next day. But what's really interesting is this style of training may provide additional benefits for growth, especially as you get more advanced. Basically, every time you lift weights, you're signaling your muscle to grow, something known as the muscle protein synthesis response. But here's the thing. In beginners, research has shown this response lasts quite long, about 48 to 72 hours. Which means you only really need to train each muscle to max three times per week in order to keep the protein synthesis response elevated throughout the whole week. In advanced lifters, however, this changes the protein synthesis response shortens and can last just 12 to 24 hours. Because of this, advanced lifters may benefit from higher frequency splits to keep stimulating muscle growth throughout the week and avoid any downtimes where muscles aren't being signaled to grow. But this is all just theoretical. The real question is, does this really lead to more growth? Well, one study published back in 2019 put this split to the test. Instead of using beginners, they took well trained lifters, split them into two groups and had them follow nearly identical workout routines with the same exercises and the same amount of sets and reps. The only difference, one group did the exercises using a 5 day full body workout split, whereas the other group used a five day BRO split. So what happened? Well, after eight weeks, almost every muscle they measured grew more with the full full body workout split compared to the BRO split. And as for its hypertrophy score, after crunching the numbers, it scores an all time high of 10.0, taking the top squat by a long shot. But it's not over yet. There's still one more split left to cover that just might take the win. And it's every gym bro's favorite routine, the six day push pull leg split. Now although this routine trains each muscle only twice per week, less than half as often as a previous 5 day full body split. And you are able to fit in a ton of volume because of how many days you're in the gym. But is this going to be enough for it to take the number one spot? Well, after crunching the numbers, comes in at a close second with a score of 9.7. So here's how I rank all the splits purely based on muscle growth, but unless you're someone who would live, eat and sleep in the gym if it meant more gains. You should also consider time efficiency. And I don't just mean how many days a week you work out. There's other factors you need to consider like warm up sets. Full body workouts are usually longer because you have to take time warming up both your upper and lower body. It's one of the reasons why despite the five day full body routine having the highest hypertrophy score, I personally still choose not to use it. So the real question becomes which split offers the best gains for the least time commitment? And to answer that, Eric and I calculated the weekly time investment you'd spend on each split and compared it to its hypertrophy score and we found one routine that gives you 85% of the gains of the top split but with 30% less time in the gym every week. And that split is the four day upper lower split. But to help you guys out, I've created a free downloadable PDF for both the 5 day full body and the 4 day upper lower routines. I will be making updated YouTube videos for some of these routines, but for now you you can download them completely free and follow it step by step at the gym over@builtwithscience.com workout routines or you can find it in the description box down below. Also exciting news. I'm getting ready to launch a brand new project I've been working on for years. I honestly can't wait to share with you guys. We're putting the final touches on it, but trust me when I say it'll be the most powerful science back tool you can use to help help you with your fitness journey. So don't forget to subscribe and keep an eye out on my channel so you don't miss it. But for now, if you're someone who wants a more personalized approach that tailors your workouts based on you and your body, head over to builtwithscience.com for my science backed programs. Otherwise, give these videos to watch next for some great chest and shoulder exercises to add to your routine. Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you next time.