Updated: 28th December, 2025
This is a sample bodybuilding program from the second edition of our bestselling Muscle and Strength Pyramid: Training book. The explanation section in the book is fairly detailed, so I have condensed it to provide only the overview, relevant notation, and explanations of exercise selections. (The book is now in its third edition, but the program is still popular and equally relevant.)
If you’re unsure whether you should choose this, the novice bodybuilding program, or our powerlifting programs, consider reading: How to Choose The Right Training Program For You.
THE 5-DAY INTERMEDIATE BODYBUILDING SAMPLE PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Intermediate Bodybuilding Program builds on the novice program by increasing volume globally. Additionally, the progression is changed to be more suitable for an intermediate-level lifter and follows a linear-periodized, wave-loading pattern in the same manner as the Intermediate Powerlifting Program.
The framework is similar to that of the Bodybuilding for Beginners Program in that the week starts off with strength-focused training on day 1 and 2 in a lower and upper body format. However, for the rest of the week, muscle groups are organized in a three-day split.
Lower body, push, and pull are performed in that order, after the upper and lower body training sessions on day 1 and 2. Thus, this is a five-day bodybuilding program; however the frequency per body part remains at two times per week like the novice program.
The change from four days of training in the novice bodybuilding program to five days in the intermediate bodybuilding program allows for more volume to be performed per muscle group, while also spreading the additional workload over more days in the week to allow for recovery.
Roughly 2/3rds of the volume in the Intermediate Bodybuilding Program is accumulated using moderate loads in the moderate muscle building repetition ranges, while the remaining volume is accumulated using heavier loads paired with lower rep ranges and lighter loads paired with higher rep ranges.
HOW THE 5-DAY INTERMEDIATE BODYBUILDING PROGRAM LOOKS
Take a look at the 5-day intermediate bodybuilding program and then I’ll explain the meaning of the ‘%1RM’ and ‘1st Set RPE’ notation and how to use it.
| Day 1 – Lower Body | |||
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | %1RM | 1st Set RPE |
| Squat Variant variations»» Back Squats (either low or high bar position), Front Squats, or Safety-bar Barbell Squatsclose | 4×3–5 | 82.5–87.5 | 8 |
| Deadlift Variant variations»» Barbell Deadlift, Trap Bar, Romanian, Good Morningsclose | 4×3–5 | 82.5–87.5 | 8 |
| Single-Leg Variant variations»» Bulgarian Split Squats, Lunges, or Single-leg Squats with a Kettlebell or Dumbbell (also known as Pistol Squats)close | 3×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Leg Curl | 3×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Standing Calf Raises variations»» Smith machine, Leg Pressclose | 5×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Day 2 – Upper Body | |||
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | %1RM | 1st Set RPE |
| Horizontal Push variations»» Bench Press, Dumbbell Bench Press, Incline Bench Pressclose | 4×3–5 | 82.5–87.5 | 8 |
| Horizontal Pull variations»» Seated Cable Row, DB Rows, Barbell Rowsclose | 4×4–6 | NA | 8 |
| Vertical Push variations»» Overhead Press, Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Pressclose | 3×5–7 | 77.5–82.5 | 8 |
| Vertical Pull variations»» Chin-ups or Pull-ups (Use bands to assist you if too hard to reach the required number of reps, add weight if they are too easy), Lat-pull Downclose | 3×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Triceps | 3×8–12 | NA | 8 |
| Biceps | 3×8–12 | NA | 8 |
| Day 3 – Lower Body | |||
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | %1RM | 1st Set RPE |
| Hip Hinge Variant variations»» Barbell Hip Thrusts, Barbell Glute Bridges, Cable Pull Throughsclose | 3×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Leg Press Variant variations»» Seated Leg Press, 45° Leg Press, Hack Squatclose | 3×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Leg Extension | 3×8–12 | NA | 8 |
| Leg Curl | 3×8–12 | NA | 8 |
| Seated Calf Raises variations»» Smith machine, Leg Pressclose | 5×12–15 | NA | 8 |
| Day 4 – Push | |||
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | %1RM | 1st Set RPE |
| Vertical Push variations»» Overhead Barbell Press, Dumbbell Press, Landmine Pressclose | 3×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Horizontal Push variations»» Bench Press, Dumbbell Pressclose | 3×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Dips | 3×8–12 | NA | 8 |
| Flys | 3×12–15 | NA | 8 |
| Day 5 – Pull | |||
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | %1RM | 1st Set RPE |
| Horizontal Pull | 3×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Vertical Pull | 3×6–8 | NA | 8 |
| Weighted Back Extensions | 3×8–12 | NA | 8 |
| Face Pull | 2×12–15 | NA | 8 |
*NA = not applicable for that exercise.
Ideally, split your bodybuilding workout schedule so you’re training no more than three days consecutively.
HOW TO USE THE INTERMEDIATE BODYBUILDING PROGRAM
WARMING UP
Warm up before you train so that your core temperature is raised, you’re ready to lift heavy and less likely to cause yourself an injury. Here’s my guide to warming up.
REST PERIODS
Rest for ~2-4 minutes for the main exercises. (Enough so that you’re recovered and ready to go again.) You’ll need just 90–120 seconds for the smaller isolation exercises like the bicep curls.
If you’re interested in why this new version of the program differs slightly from that in the first edition of our book in 2015, see the last FAQ item here.
EXERCISE SELECTION GUIDELINES
Exercise preferences, limitations, and equipment availability differ from person to person. Choose an exercise option from the list of variants that you can perform confidently with good form, pain-free, with a full range of motion.
If you need further guidance see my guide to exercise selection, here. Here’s guidance for how to adapt this bodybuilding program for bodyweight workouts at home.
FORM
Unlike what many people say, there isn’t “one correct way” to squat, bench, or deadlift. The key to getting strong, staying uninjured, and growing a ton of muscle is learning how to lift in a way that suits the mechanics of your body. Here are our three free mega-guides teaching you how to do that:
HOW TO PROGRESS WITH THE INTERMEDIATE BODYBUILDING WORKOUT PLAN
Now with some weight training experience under your belt, you should be able to tell with reasonable accuracy how many reps you have in the tank prior to failure. So, rating perceived exertion (RPE) based on reps in reserve (RIR) will primarily be used to set load. As a reminder…
The %1RM notation stands for the percentage of your 1-rep maximum. It is an approximate guideline for how much you should load the bar the first time you start the program (only), and we will use this with our main compound barbell competition lifts.
The 1st Set RPE notation is there to tell us the intensity of effort with which we should lift. It is a guideline for how close to failure you should stop the set, and this, along with the target number of reps, determines how much you should load the bar for the first set, every time you train.
Table: RIR and RIR-based RPE
| RPE | Meaning | RIR |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Max lift, couldn’t do more. | 0 |
| 9.5 | No more reps, could do slightly more load. | 0 |
| 9 | Could do 1 more rep. | 1 |
| 8.5 | Could do 1 more rep, possibility of 2. | 1–2 |
| 8 | Could do 2 more reps. | 2 |
| 7.5 | Could definitely do 2 more reps, possibility of 3. | 2–3 |
| 7 | Could do 3 more reps. | 3 |
| 6–5 | Could do 4 to 6 more reps. | 4–6 |
(If you still need more explanation about the use of ‘%1RM’ and ‘1st Set RPE’, refer to the Novice Bodybuilding Program.)
Add a little weight to each exercise every session, whenever you are able to do so.
Once you are no longer able to consistently do that, start using Autoregulated Double Progression, covered in How To Progress.
Why There Are No Shrugs or Direct Abdominal Work in the Bodybuilding Programs
To be perfectly honest with you, I’ve never actually seen a bodybuilder improve their abs or their upper traps by adding in these exercises to an already well-balanced routine that includes deadlift and squat variants, overhead pressing, rowing, and other compound free weight exercises.
This is not just about beginners, but advanced trainees and even professionals, too.
I’ve seen bodybuilders who don’t have a well-balanced routine that includes these compound exercises benefit from performing shrugs and direct ab work, but that is already starting with a suboptimal approach in the first place, in my opinion.
I’ve also met many bodybuilders who claim that these exercises are critical to the development of their traps and abs, but invariably these bodybuilders are already performing forty-odd exercises, so how would they know what was doing what?
Most convincingly, I’ve seen bodybuilders remove shrugs and direct abdominal work from well-balanced plans that include a lot of compound exercises without any detriment to their traps or abs.
Now, all that said, when I work with bodybuilders who specifically have weak traps or abs, I do prescribe direct ab work and shrugs. That’s just common sense and even if it’s not successful, it’s worth the attempt. So, if you do happen to be someone with weak abdominal muscles (and not just someone who holds fat in their midsection) or upper-trap development, feel free to add a few sets of these exercises per week.
Intermediate Bodybuilding Program FAQ
The best training for muscle gain depends on how advanced you are, but in general, training each muscle group 2–3 times per week, for 10–20 sets per week, with ⅔–¾ of volume in the 6–12 rep range, and the remaining volume in the 1–6 and 12–20 rep ranges at a 5–10 RPE is what the current state of the scientific evidence points to as being best. This workout is an example of that theory in practice.
You can alternate your upper body horizontal push and pull exercises, and vertical push and pull exercises. These are called antagonist paired sets (APS). You can also do this for the leg extension and leg curl, and biceps and triceps. It would be best if you still rested in between your sets rather than doing them back-to-back without a break. Feel free to use this with the sample program.
Whether you gain or lose weight when on a bodybuilding program depends entirely on whether you have a calorie surplus or deficit. This is easiest to control via your diet. Someone who is naturally underweight may find their appetite to go up a little when on a bodybuilding program, causing them to gain weight. But someone who is overweight may find their appetite goes down a little, causing them to lose weight.
It is best to train each muscle group 2–3 times per week, not every day. Growth happens outside the gym, not in it. Make sure you give yourself time to recover as we have in this sample intermediate bodybuilding routine.
Well, you could, but the weight of the evidence suggests 10–20 hard sets per muscle/group or movement is an appropriate weekly volume to prescribe when no foreknowledge of individual needs/tolerance/genetics exist.
The novice programs on this site provide a number of sets per movement/muscle group towards the low end of 10–20, this intermediate program towards the middle, and the advanced programs (in the book) towards the upper end.
This may or may not be less volume than what you are already doing, what you like to do, what feels right, or compared to other popular programs or what your favorite athlete or influencer does or suggests. But, unless you are an experienced lifter who knows from well-recorded observations over years what your specific volume needs are, I’d advise at least trying to progress using similar volumes to what we recommend first, before deciding it’s too low.
If you don’t make progress, just do more volume. But in my experience as a coach, it’s just as likely (if not more likely) that you could progress just as well, if not faster, with a lower volume.
In short: Do enough to progress, not as much as possible. Increase training volume when plateaued if you are recovering well. More on this in my guide on breaking training plateaus.
If your training progress has stalled, make sure you are following intelligent progression rules. Be sure not to train to failure all the time. If you are already doing that, then you’ll find the solution here: How to Break Training Plateaus.
An Important Note On Sample Training Programs
The idea behind presenting multiple sample programs in our book is that readers should see them not as “the be-all end-all” to jump right into, but primarily as learning tools. The programs are the synthesis of the entire Training Pyramid, combining the concepts presented throughout the book into usable systems.
By examining the sample programs, they are looking at only a few of the possible iterations of the concepts embodied in the text. Trainers will be able to use the sample programs to help them learn how to create customized programs for their clients, and athletes will use the programs to help them design a more individualized plan for themselves.
If you have found this helpful, you might be pleased to know it is just a small section taken from our best-selling Muscle and Strength Pyramid books.
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