Spoiler alert: there is no “the best split”.

Everyone has different needs, is built differently, and has different recovery capabilities.

So, “the best way” to train for a bikini body is the way that allows you to

1. train hard
2. recover from your training
3. do 1. and 2. consistently for years on end

That being said, there is one split that is very common amongst the girls that impersonate that bikini shape, so many are trying to create.

It’s a five-day split where you train as follows:

lower body (quad focus)
upper body
lower body (hamstring focus)
rest
upper body
lower body (glute focus)
rest

There are a few things you need to pay attention here since this type of split is quite demanding.

• you have to be careful not to overload your lower back. It means that the squat variation you’ll use needs to be very much knee dominant, or that the hamstring day is going to be mainly isolation work on a machine instead of heavy deadlifts.

• you want to choose exercises that enable you to isolate your glutes very well on the third lower body day and are not too taxing on your lower back.

• you really have to make sure that you’re not doing too much volume here, as the frequency is high. Doing too much volume would lead to using too little intensity and create too much fatigue.

So let’s have a look at what those lower body days could look like:

Quad Focus day
A: SSB heels elevated 3×8-10
B: Pendulum or Hack Squat 3×10-12
C: Leg Extension 2×10-15

Hamstring Focus day:
A: RDL 3×8-10
B: Lying Leg Curls 3×8-10

Glute Focus day:
A: Hip Thrust 3×8-10
B: Leg Press, high narrow stance 3×10-2
C: Walking lunges: 2×20 steps

With that kind of plan, you want to bring each exercise close to failure for the A-series and to failure for the B and C series.
The intensity has to be high to drive muscle growth.

Only after having built this up successfully should you start to think about adding more exercises or doing more volume, but I promise you, if you really push yourself to reach the point of failure, you will make progress with that split.

LFG
Yannick

PS: Have a look HERE to understand & see how intensity really looks like

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