Workout Planner: A Weekly Exercise Schedule for Your Home Gym

Weekly workout splits for 2 to 6 days

The planner uses one split per day count. Each is laid out so the same session never runs on back-to-back days, and every major muscle group (legs, pushing muscles, pulling muscles) is trained at least twice a week.

How many days a week should you train?

The American College of Sports Medicine's position stand on progression in resistance training ties frequency to training experience. Separately, the HHS Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans ask adults for muscle-strengthening activity on at least 2 days a week and 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity.

The planner still builds a plan outside these ranges, but tells you when your days fall outside ACSM's recommendation for your level.

Reps and rest by goal

Rep ranges and rest periods follow the same ACSM position stand. "Main" lifts are the big compound movements that open each session; "accessory" lifts follow them. Set counts are GymScored defaults: ACSM recommends multiple-set programs but its summary gives no per-exercise number.

• Beginners: ACSM recommends loads corresponding to an 8–12 repetition maximum.
• Strength: a 1–12 RM range used in a periodized way, with eventual emphasis on heavy 1–6 RM loads and 3–5 minute rests.
• Muscle size: 1–12 RM with emphasis on the 6–12 RM zone and 1–2 minute rests.
• Muscular endurance: light to moderate loads for more than 15 reps with rests under 90 seconds.

Exercise substitutions by equipment

Every session is built from movement slots. For each slot the planner takes the first exercise in this list that your equipment allows; on the second time a session appears in the week it takes the next one, for variety. Moves marked "gear gap" can't be loaded heavier and are flagged in your plan.

How the planner works

1. Your day count picks the split from the table above and places it on the week.
2. Each session's movement slots are filled with the best exercise your ticked equipment allows.
3. Sets, reps and rest come from your goal and level (the reps-and-rest table).
4. Cardio minutes are split into equal sessions and placed on rest days first, then after lifting: 150 minutes becomes 5 × 30, 300 minutes becomes 6 × 50.
5. Any slot that fell back to an unloaded move is listed as a gear gap, with the single items that would fill it.

The split templates, exercise order and set counts are our editorial defaults for a home gym, not a published prescription. The day ranges, rep ranges and rest periods are ACSM's; the twice-a-week target per muscle follows Schoenfeld et al. (2016).

Workout planner FAQ

How many days a week should I work out?

The ACSM position stand on resistance training recommends 2–3 days a week for beginners, 3–4 for intermediate lifters and 4–5 for advanced lifters. The HHS Physical Activity Guidelines ask adults for muscle-strengthening on at least 2 days a week plus 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity.

What is a good 6 day gym workout schedule?

The common 6-day schedule is push, pull, legs run twice (Monday to Saturday) with Sunday off, which trains each muscle group twice a week. Six days is above the 4–5 days ACSM recommends even for advanced lifters, so the planner flags it.

Is a full-body routine or a split better?

Either works if each muscle gets enough work. Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger's 2016 meta-analysis found training a muscle twice a week beat once a week on a volume-equated basis, and left open whether three times beats twice. Every split this planner builds hits each major muscle group at least twice a week.

How many sets and reps should I do?

ACSM recommends 8–12 reps for beginners; heavier 1–6 rep sets with 3–5 minute rests for strength; mostly 6–12 reps with 1–2 minute rests for muscle size; and more than 15 reps with under 90 seconds' rest for muscular endurance. Set counts in this planner are our defaults, not a published number.

Can I make a weekly workout plan with only dumbbells?

Yes. Tick only dumbbells and the planner builds every day from dumbbell and bodyweight moves. The one pattern dumbbells can't load is a vertical pull, so it lists a pull-up bar, bands or a cable machine as the gear gap.

When should I add weight?

ACSM's rule is to add 2–10% to the load once you can do one or two reps more than the target for that exercise. With fixed gear, adding reps, sets or a slower lowering phase is the alternative.

Sources

Last checked: November 5, 2026. Each page below was opened and read; for the two journal papers that is the published abstract.

• American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687–708 (abstract, PMID 19204579): days per week by training level, rep ranges and rest periods by goal, novice/intermediate/advanced definitions
• Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Effects of resistance training frequency on measures of muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2016;46(11):1689–1697 (PMID 27102172): training each major muscle group at least twice a week
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (ODPHP): Top 10 Things to Know About the Second Edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans: 150–300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening on at least 2 days a week
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Adult Activity: An Overview: the major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, arms) and the 2-day strengthening guideline

This is a training-schedule tool only. It is not medical, injury or rehabilitation advice.