How to Choose the Best Training Split for Your Goals
Key Takeaways
The best training split is the one built around your goals—not someone else's.
More training days don't automatically mean better results.
Great programs are designed with intention, not random exercises.
Stop Copying Other People's Workouts
One of the biggest mistakes people make in the gym isn't choosing the wrong exercises.
It's following the wrong training split.
Maybe your favorite influencer trains six days a week. Maybe your buddy swears by push-pull-legs. Maybe you've heard upper/lower is "the best."
But here's the truth:
There is no universally perfect training split.
There is only the best split for your experience, schedule, recovery ability, and goals.
In this episode of Choose Hard, Coach Cody McBroom breaks down the most effective training splits, who they're designed for, and why program design is much more than simply assigning exercises to different days of the week.
Program Design Is an Art
Cody opens the episode with a statement that every lifter—and every coach—should hear.
Too many online programs are nothing more than random exercises thrown together.
That's not programming.
Real program design follows scientific principles, but it also requires strategy. Exercise selection, training frequency, recovery, progression, and weekly organization all need to work together to move someone toward a specific goal.
A great program isn't built around what's popular.
It's built around what's appropriate.
Your Training Split Should Match Your Goal
One of Cody's biggest messages throughout the episode is simple:
Your goal determines your training split.
A beginner trying to build confidence in the gym doesn't need the same program as a competitive physique athlete.
Someone focused on fat loss doesn't need the same weekly volume as someone trying to maximize muscle growth.
Likewise, athletes training for strength, performance, bodybuilding, or general health all require different approaches because the end goal is different.
Instead of asking:
"What's the best split?"
Ask:
"What's the best split for what I'm trying to accomplish?"
More Days Doesn't Mean More Results
Many people assume that training five or six days a week automatically produces faster progress.
Not necessarily.
Cody explains that beginners often make incredible progress training just three days per week with a full-body program.
As experience increases, adding training volume through four or five weekly sessions can become beneficial—but only if recovery supports it.
Training more than your body can recover from doesn't accelerate progress.
It slows it down.
The goal isn't to spend the most time in the gym.
The goal is to stimulate progress while recovering enough to improve again next session.
The Best Split for Most Lifters
While Cody discusses multiple training splits—including full body, upper/lower, push-pull-legs, and several physique-specific variations—one stands out as the most versatile.
The upper/lower split.
According to Cody, it's effective for beginners, intermediate lifters, and advanced trainees alike because it balances training frequency, recovery, and progression without becoming overly complicated.
It's simple enough to stay consistent with.
Flexible enough to customize.
And effective enough to produce results for years.
Sometimes the best answer isn't the most complicated one.
Recovery Is Part of Program Design
A workout doesn't exist in isolation.
Every training day affects the next one.
That's why intelligent programming considers things most people never think about:
How today's workout impacts tomorrow's performance.
Whether your joints can recover between sessions.
How much stress your nervous system is accumulating.
Which muscles are still fatigued from previous workouts.
Great coaches don't just organize muscle groups.
They organize recovery.
Because if recovery isn't accounted for, progress eventually stops.
Specialization Comes Later
Another important takeaway is that most people don't need highly specialized programs.
In fact, Cody estimates that the vast majority of lifters can make excellent progress using proven templates rather than fully customized training splits.
Specialized programming becomes valuable when someone has very specific goals, advanced training experience, or a need to prioritize certain muscle groups.
Until then, mastering the fundamentals will almost always produce better results than chasing complexity.
Consistency Beats the "Perfect" Split
It's easy to spend weeks debating which split is optimal.
Three days?
Four days?
Push-pull-legs?
Upper/lower?
But none of those matter if you can't consistently follow them.
The best program is the one you can recover from, stay consistent with, and progressively improve over time.
Progress doesn't come from finding a magic split.
It comes from showing up week after week and getting a little better.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a training split isn't about following trends.
It's about creating structure that supports your goals.
Whether you're lifting three days a week or five, training for strength or aesthetics, the principles remain the same:
Train with purpose.
Recover intentionally.
Progress consistently.
Because the best training split isn't the one your favorite influencer uses.
It's the one that helps you become stronger, healthier, and more capable over the long haul.
Listen to Episode #110 of the Choose Hard Podcast to learn how to choose training splits for beginners, advanced lifters, physique athletes, and everyday people—and how to finally pick the program that's right for your goals instead of chasing fitness trends.