I want to move to a 5-day split for weight training - easier to fit it in before work. I'm currently on a 3-day split like this:

Day 1:
Legs
Traps

Day 2:
Chest
Triceps
Shoulders

Day 3:
Back
Biceps
Forearm

-with abs twice a week on offdays.

So what is the best way to break this into 5 days and in what order should I go? I'm concerned about muscle fatigue/performance since I'll be working 5 days straight now and it seems that the order of the workouts could have an effect on that. Thanks.

I think doing the bigger muscle groups towards the beginning of the week is probably smartest. I'm following MAX-OT, and the 5-day split looks like this right now.

Monday - Legs
Tuesday - Chest, Forearms
Wednesday - Back
Thursday - Shoulders, Triceps
Friday - Biceps, Abs

I think doing the bigger muscle groups towards the beginning of the week is probably smartest. I'm following MAX-OT, and the 5-day split looks like this right now.

Monday - Legs
Tuesday - Chest, Forearms
Wednesday - Back
Thursday - Shoulders, Triceps
Friday - Biceps, Abs

I agree with this, except I would put Back before Chest since Chest tends to get overworked by most people in general. Putting it later in the week gives it less chance to be overworked. Plus, studies show the most muscle grows from early week workouts, so your legs should grow, then back, chest, etc... Good for correcting imbalances.

I agree with this, except I would put Back before Chest since Chest tends to get overworked by most people in general. Putting it later in the week gives it less chance to be overworked. Plus, studies show the most muscle grows from early week workouts, so your legs should grow, then back, chest, etc... Good for correcting imbalances.

How does working a certain muscle earlier in the week have any effect? Unless you're doing mainly compound excersizes I don't really understand, sorry. Right now my 5 day split looks like this:

Monday - Quads/Hamstrings
Tuesday - Chest/Triceps
Wednesday - Abs/Core
Thursday - Back/Biceps
Friday - Calf/Shoulders

Now this isn't the best, but it's what I just started doing. I think that I will be switching Thursday and Tuesday around, but I was wondering if anyone thinks I should change anything else around.

How does working a certain muscle earlier in the week have any effect? Unless you're doing mainly compound excersizes I don't really understand, sorry.

I think the idea behind it is that when you work larger muscle groups, like chest, or back for example, you're also using stabilizer muscles like your biceps and triceps. Imagine if you fatigued your triceps and biceps in the beginning of the week, you wouldn't really be able to give all that you have for chest and back, because you biceps and triceps are already fatigued from the beginning of the week. I think that's why most people do larger muscle groups at the beginning of the week, and finish the week by doing smaller groups. I'm sure there will be a lot of debate about this topic though. Personally, I think it makes more sense to not fatigue my stabilizer muscles, before working my larger muscle groups.

I workout in only 4 days but my order is:

Mon: Back/Abs
Tues: Chest/Shldr
Thurs: Legs
Fri: Bi/Tri/Abs

Dead lifts are the most important lift to me, and that's why I have them at the beginning of the week. I also keep deads and squats as far apart as possible with this order. Bis and Tris are least important and get pushed to the back. I could see switching Legs and Back, but little else.

I think the idea behind it is that when you work larger muscle groups, like chest, or back for example, you're also using stabilizer muscles like your biceps and triceps. Imagine if you fatigued your triceps and biceps in the beginning of the week, you wouldn't really be able to give all that you have for chest and back, because you biceps and triceps are already fatigued from the beginning of the week. I think that's why most people do larger muscle groups at the beginning of the week, and finish the week by doing smaller groups. I'm sure there will be a lot of debate about this topic though. Personally, I think it makes more sense to not fatigue my stabilizer muscles, before working my larger muscle groups.An important distinction to make is that, for the most part, there aren't muscles in your body that solely act as stabilizers. In a bench press (http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/BBBenchPress.html), for example, your biceps act as stabilizers. In a pull-up (http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/LatissimusDorsi/WtPullup.html), your triceps act as stabilizers. In a squat (http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/BBSquat.html), your hamstrings, calves, and lower back all act as stabilizers. I don't know if you or anyone else shares this view, but, when I was just beginning to learn about the mechanics of exercise, I thought there really were muscles in there that were solely stabilizer muscles -- I pictured them as little tiny helper muscles. But this isn't the case.

OK - thanks everyone

So far this week its working out great - going like this:

M: Legs
T: Back & Neck
W: Chest & Forearm
T: Shoulders & Tris

and tomorrow I'll do bis and abs. I've ordered the week according to what needs the most work just in case it is true that the earlier week workouts bulid more muscle. In any case I'll always do legs first since I like to get to them when I'm fresh and I also like to get them out of the way since they are the hardest part to work.

Just my suggestion, and you can take it or leave it. If you're going to concentrate on dead lifts being the core, compound exercise for your back, you might not want to do them the day after you do legs.

For me, deadlifts and squats are the two most important lifts I do. Because they somewhat overlap which muscles are used, I like to put them as far apart during the week as possible.

Mon: Chest
Tues: Back
Wed: Legs
Thurs: Shoulders
Fri: Arms

I follow this Max-OT style. This split allows me to work opposing muscle groups and then give my upper body a day off. Once my chest/shoulders/tris have had two days off, I'm ready to give my all again on Thursday for shoulders. Friday I blow out my arms and have another two days off before attempting chest again.
I just know that, for me, working my upper body parts all in a row was too much. I needed the rest and throwing my leg day in the middle was the perfect solution. I'm a DOMS sufferer, so this worked well.
I'm now 16 weeks into this split (with my week off after 8) and I have yet to have a week go by where I haven't added one more rep to each set or 5 more pounds to a lift.

Monkey has different priorities than I do, obviously.

Why do you choose chest and arms as your priority?

monday - chest triceps, calves
tuesday - back biceps abs
wed - cardio
thursday - shoulders traps calves
friday - legs abs

Thanks Deadhead -

I didn't notice any difference or any problems with my deadlift on Tuesday but I'll keep an eye on my performance and adjust if I start having problems.

Monkey has different priorities than I do, obviously.

Why do you choose chest and arms as your priority?

I don't choose chest and arms as a priority. Every bodypart is a priority to me and that's why I use this split. Yes, I know, if I start with something on Monday, it must be my priority, but in all reality, I just work every muscle group once every 7 days. It all depends on how you look at it. This particular split lets me give the most effort to every exercise I do.
Since Chest day and Shoulder day use alot of the same muscles, I want to keep them as far apart as possible.
I love to work opposing sides in consecutive order. That way, I'm using the least amount of the same supporting muscles while I'm doing my movements. Hence, I do my Back day right after my Chest day.
Working legs next is what enables my upper body to have a "day off" and puts one more day between my Chest day and my Shoulder day so that I can once again use maximum effort in my lifts.
I put arms at the end, because to work them out anywhere else in the split would guarantee that I go into a workout later in the week with sore arms. Like I said, I suffer from DOMS, so I try to keep the shortcomings of that to a minimum.
For me to change the order of anything in this split is to force myself to workout with a sore muscle group. I'm about giving my all everytime, every workout. This split lets me do it. I've tried other configurations and they just don't seem to get it.
Of course, I'm not saying it's perfect, I just don't know another way.

I'm ALWAYS open to suggestions. Anyone?

I like his split. It gives the upper body a break when he does his legs on monday.

I like his split. It gives the upper body a break when he does his legs on monday.

Whose?

Whose?
Monkey's. I really like to give my upper body a bit of a break during the week by throwing legs in the middle.