RYUTRAINING

Free programs

Best workout split? Pick by your week

Three complete programs for beginners and early lifters, free, with every rule backed by a study. They differ in one thing that matters most: how many days a week you can train, every week.

Updated 2026-10-24

The three programs

  • Cover of the free Push / Pull / Legs program PDF by Ryu Training, with Ryu drawn in manga style
    • 3 or 6 days a week
    • ≈ 60 min a session
    • Gym or home

    Push / Pull / Legs

    The program for skinny guys who want real size and strength, at the gym or at home.

  • Cover of the free Upper / Lower program PDF by Ryu Training, with Ryu drawn in manga style
    • 4 days a week
    • ≈ 55 min a session
    • Gym or home

    Upper / Lower

    Four sessions a week, every muscle trained twice. The best balance of results and recovery for most people.

  • Cover of the free 5-Day Split program PDF by Ryu Training, with Ryu drawn in manga style
    • 5 days a week
    • ≈ 50–70 min a session
    • Gym or home

    5-Day Split

    One body part a day: chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs. Long, focused sessions, with an honest look at the trade-off.

The three programs side by side

ProgramDays a weekSessionsEach muscleBest if
Push / Pull / Legs3 or 6 days a weekPush, Pull, LegsOnce a week (3 days) or twice (6 days)You've trained for less than a year, or you've been lifting without a plan.
Upper / Lower4 days a weekUpper A, Lower A, Upper B, Lower BTwice a weekYou've trained for a few months, or you're starting and can give it 4 days a week.
5-Day Split5 days a weekChest, Back, Shoulders, Arms, LegsOnce a weekYou've trained for at least a few months and know the main lifts.

Every program has a home version of each exercise: a loaded backpack, two resistance bands, a doorway pull-up bar, a sturdy chair and a step.

The rules behind all three

  1. Hard sets build muscle

    The more hard sets a muscle gets each week, the more it grows, up to a point: the gains shrink as you add more. These programs sit in the range where beginners grow well.

    Study: Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass (2017). Schoenfeld BJ et al., J Sports Sci, PMID 27433992.

    Study: The Resistance Training Dose Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency (2026). Pelland JC et al., Sports Med, PMID 41343037.

  2. Stop 1–2 reps short of failure

    Growth tends to rise as sets end closer to failure, but going all the way to failure didn't add more muscle than stopping 1–2 reps short.

    Study: Exploring the Dose-Response Relationship Between Estimated Resistance Training Proximity to Failure, Strength Gain, and Muscle Hypertrophy (2024). Robinson ZP et al., Sports Med, PMID 38970765.

    Study: Similar muscle hypertrophy following eight weeks of resistance training to momentary muscular failure or with repetitions-in-reserve (2024). Refalo MC et al., J Sports Sci, PMID 38393985.

    Study: Influence of Resistance Training Proximity-to-Failure on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy (2023). Refalo MC et al., Sports Med, PMID 36334240.

  3. Beat your log

    Adding reps at the same weight worked as well as adding weight: both count as progress.

    Study: Progressive overload without progressing load? The effects of load or repetition progression on muscular adaptations (2022). Plotkin D et al., PeerJ, PMID 36199287.

  4. Rest longer on big lifts

    Three minutes between sets beat one minute for strength and for thigh growth in trained men.

    Study: Longer Interset Rest Periods Enhance Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Resistance-Trained Men (2016). Schoenfeld BJ et al., J Strength Cond Res, PMID 26605807.

  5. Heavy or light, both work

    Light and heavy loads taken close to failure built similar muscle. Heavy loads built more maximal strength, which is why the big lifts stay in the 6–10 rep range.

    Study: Strength and Hypertrophy Adaptations Between Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training (2017). Schoenfeld BJ et al., J Strength Cond Res, PMID 28834797.

  6. Train the stretch

    In several studies, exercises that load a muscle in its stretched position grew it more: seated leg curls, overhead triceps extensions, standing calf raises, curls from a straight arm. Most of these studies were done on beginners.

    Study: Greater Hamstrings Muscle Hypertrophy but Similar Damage Protection after Training at Long versus Short Muscle Lengths (2021). Maeo S et al., Med Sci Sports Exerc, PMID 33009197.

    Study: Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position (2023). Maeo S et al., Eur J Sport Sci, PMID 35819335.

    Study: Triceps surae muscle hypertrophy is greater after standing versus seated calf-raise training (2023). Kinoshita M et al., Front Physiol, PMID 38156065.

    Study: Elbow Joint Angles in Elbow Flexor Unilateral Resistance Exercise Training Determine Its Effects on Muscle Strength and Thickness (2021). Sato S et al., Front Physiol, PMID 34616309.

Questions people ask

What is the best workout split?

The one you can follow every week. With the same weekly sets, training a muscle 1, 2 or 3+ times a week gave similar growth [Schoenfeld et al. 2019], and split and full-body routines gave the same gains [Ramos-Campo et al. 2024]. Pick by the number of days you can really train: 3 (Push Pull Legs), 4 (Upper / Lower) or 5 (5-Day Split).

Which program is best for beginners?

Push Pull Legs, option A: 3 days a week, each muscle once a week, about an hour per session. Move to option B (6 days) once you've trained for 8 weeks without missing sessions.

Are the PDFs free?

Yes. Each program page shows the full program, and the PDF (17 to 19 pages, every move drawn, with a training log) is free for your email. The download link appears on the page right away.

References

Every study below was checked on PubMed. Results in short, as the studies report them; most were done on young adults, often beginners.

  1. Kinoshita M et al. (2023). Triceps surae muscle hypertrophy is greater after standing versus seated calf-raise training. Front Physiol. PMID 38156065.14 beginners, 12 weeks: standing calf raises grew the outer gastrocnemius +12.4% vs +1.7% for seated ones; the soleus grew about the same (+2.1% vs +2.9%).
  2. Maeo S et al. (2021). Greater Hamstrings Muscle Hypertrophy but Similar Damage Protection after Training at Long versus Short Muscle Lengths. Med Sci Sports Exerc. PMID 33009197.20 adults, 12 weeks: seated leg curls grew the hamstrings +14%, lying leg curls +9%.
  3. Maeo S et al. (2023). Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position. Eur J Sport Sci. PMID 35819335.21 adults, 12 weeks: overhead extensions grew the triceps long head +28.5% vs +19.6% with the arm at the side, with lighter weights.
  4. Pelland JC et al. (2026). The Resistance Training Dose Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency. Sports Med. PMID 41343037.67 studies, 2,058 people: more weekly sets meant more growth, with diminishing returns. Training a muscle more often added strength, but its effect on size was compatible with zero.
  5. Plotkin D et al. (2022). Progressive overload without progressing load? The effects of load or repetition progression on muscular adaptations. PeerJ. PMID 36199287.43 trained people, 8 weeks: adding reps at the same weight worked as well as adding weight.
  6. Ramos-Campo DJ et al. (2024). Efficacy of Split Versus Full-Body Resistance Training on Strength and Muscle Growth. J Strength Cond Res. PMID 38595233.14 studies, 392 people: split and full-body routines gave the same strength and muscle gains when weekly volume was equal.
  7. Refalo MC et al. (2023). Influence of Resistance Training Proximity-to-Failure on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy. Sports Med. PMID 36334240.Meta-analysis of 15 studies: no clear extra growth from going all the way to failure.
  8. Refalo MC et al. (2024). Similar muscle hypertrophy following eight weeks of resistance training to momentary muscular failure or with repetitions-in-reserve. J Sports Sci. PMID 38393985.18 trained lifters, 8 weeks: stopping 1-2 reps short of failure grew the quads as much as going to failure.
  9. Robinson ZP et al. (2024). Exploring the Dose-Response Relationship Between Estimated Resistance Training Proximity to Failure, Strength Gain, and Muscle Hypertrophy. Sports Med. PMID 38970765.Meta-regression: muscle growth tended to rise as sets ended closer to failure (exploratory).
  10. Sato S et al. (2021). Elbow Joint Angles in Elbow Flexor Unilateral Resistance Exercise Training Determine Its Effects on Muscle Strength and Thickness. Front Physiol. PMID 34616309.32 beginners, 5 weeks: curls in the arm-almost-straight range grew the elbow flexors +8.9% vs +3.4% for the bent-arm range.
  11. Schoenfeld BJ et al. (2016). Longer Interset Rest Periods Enhance Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Resistance-Trained Men. J Strength Cond Res. PMID 26605807.21 trained men, 8 weeks: resting 3 minutes between sets beat 1 minute for squat and bench strength and for thigh muscle thickness.
  12. Schoenfeld BJ et al. (2017). Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass. J Sports Sci. PMID 27433992.15 studies: each extra weekly set was linked to about 0.37% more muscle growth.
  13. Schoenfeld BJ et al. (2017). Strength and Hypertrophy Adaptations Between Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training. J Strength Cond Res. PMID 28834797.21 studies: light and heavy loads taken close to failure built similar muscle; heavy loads built more max strength.
  14. Schoenfeld BJ et al. (2019). How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy?. J Sports Sci. PMID 30558493.25 studies: with the same weekly sets, training a muscle 1, 2 or 3+ times a week gave similar growth.