2-day split

This article is verified by 1 study/publication.

Plan overview

Muscle focus

See how the planned working sets are spread across muscle groups.

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With a 2-day split, you divide your muscle groups between two different sessions. This lets you give each group more attention without having to fit all the main exercises into one full-body workout.

This can be a useful option once you have some experience with full-body training, and experienced lifters use it too. After 3–4 months, you can assess whether a change would suit you, but there’s no deadline for switching. A review found similar strength and muscle-growth results with split and full-body routines when training volume was matched.^[1]

You decide how to arrange sessions A and B over the week. In this example, you repeat each session twice, for a total of four training days:

Monday: Day A exercises
Tuesday: Day B exercises
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Day A exercises
Friday: Day B exercises
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

In this schedule, at least two days separate sessions with the same muscle focus.

2-day split example plan

Below is an example 2-day split with exercises organized by muscle group. The linked exercise guides explain the movements and alternatives you can use to adapt your selection.

Day A

Exercise	Main muscle group	Sets	Reps
Bench Press	Chest	3	12 / 10 / 8
Incline dumbbell fly	Chest	3	12 / 10 / 8
Dumbell shoulder press	Shoulder	2	12 / 10
Lateral raise	Shoulder	2	12 / 10
Cable tricep pushdowns	Triceps	3	12 / 10 / 8
Kickbacks	Triceps	2	12 / 10
Sit-ups	Abdomen	5	20

Day B

Exercise	Main muscle group	Sets	Reps
Squats	Thigh	3	12 / 10 / 8
Calf Raise	Lower leg	3	15
Pull-ups	Upper back	3	12 / 10 / 8
Deadlift	Lower back	3	12 / 10 / 8
Biceps curls	Biceps	3	12 / 10 / 8
Preacher curls	Biceps	3	12 / 10 / 8

2-day split alternative exercises

You can perform the following exercises as alternatives to 2-day split.

Filter the exercises below by muscle group and difficulty.

Exercise	Main muscle group	Difficulty	Type of training
Barbell Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Barbell Row	Shoulder training	Hard	Compound exercise
Barbell Squats	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
Behind-The-Neck Overhead Press	Shoulder training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Bench Press	Triceps training	Medium	Compound exercise
Cable Lat Pulldown	Upper back	Easy	Compound exercise
Cable Lat Pulldown, close grip	Neck training	Easy	Compound exercise
Cable Row	Neck training	Medium	Compound exercise
Crunches	Abs workout	Easy	Isolation exercise
Deadlift	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
Decline Bench Press	Lower chest	Medium	Compound exercise
Dips	Upper chest	Hard	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Bench Press	Chest training	Medium	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Deadlift	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Dumbbell Squats	Thigh training	Medium	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Tricep Extension	Triceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Flys	Middle chest	Medium	Isolation exercise
Front Raise	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Front Squats	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
Hammer Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Incline Barbell Press	Upper chest	Easy	Compound exercise
Incline Dumbbell Press	Upper chest	Medium	Compound exercise
Overhead Tricep Extension	Triceps training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Pull-Ups	Upper back	Medium	Compound exercise
Seated Machine Row	Neck training	Easy	Compound exercise
Squats	Thigh training	Medium	Compound exercise
Sumo Deadlift	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
Zercher Squat	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise

Sources

Efficacy of Split Versus Full-Body Resistance Training on Strength and Muscle Growth: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis. Ramos-Campo DJ, Benito-Peinado PJ, Andreu-Caravaca L, Rojo-Tirado MA, Rubio-Arias JÁ. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2024;38(7):1330–1340. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000004774.