2-day split

Plan overview

Muscle focus

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

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With the 2-day split, you divide all muscle groups between two separate training days. The aim is to increase the training volume per muscle group, which can be challenging with a full-body workout plan due to the high intensity of performing all essential exercises on the same day.

A 2-day split is a great transition from a full-body workout plan for advanced beginners. Typically, after 3-4 months, it’s a good idea to switch to a 2-day split. But it’s not just for advanced beginners; even experienced athletes can benefit from a 2-day split.

How you split the exercises between the two days in the week is up to you. However, a common schedule looks like this over a week:

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

It’s smart to always have at least two days of rest between the same muscle focus.

2-day split example plan

Below, you’ll find exercises for a 2-day split workout plan, organized by muscle group on two different days. In the following section, we’ll also provide some exercise recommendations to mix up the exercises listed here.

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

2-day split

Muscle focus

Share by muscle group

Contributing exercises

2-day split example plan

Day A

Day B

2-day split alternative exercises

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