7 Day Gym Workout Plan (How To Structure It The Right Way)

This is because you can easily overdo your volume, which is the amount of work you perform for each muscle group.  

Get the volume wrong, and it will negatively impact your recovery between workouts, which decreases how hard you’re able to train overall.    

That said, there are certainly ways you can be successful on a seven-day workout plan. 

Below, I’ll show you how Fitbod can build an individualized workout program custom to your goals, equipment, schedule, and training data.  Fitbod will recommend workouts that engage all of your main muscle groups and ensure you are allocating appropriate work to each muscle group

Key Takeaways

• Before beginning a 7-day workout program, you must consider your goals, current fitness level, and how much time you can realistically dedicate to it.

• Training 7 days a week is a huge commitment. You must also be prepared to follow a healthy, nutritious diet and get enough rest.

• With Fitbod, you’ll have a customized workout plan that naturally progresses as you gain strength.

How To Structure a 7-Day Workout Routine

When building a 7-day workout plan, you must determine your overall goal, how much time you can spend in the gym, and what level you’re at when starting the program.

If your overall fitness levels and strength are relatively low, you can get away with a lot more in a single workout than if you are very strong, developed, and experienced. 

Keep this rule of thumb in mind: The closer you are to your peak potential, the more recovery you need, and therefore, fewer exercises are needed when training seven days per week.

Here are some examples of how typical 7-day plans are structured.

Training Split Into Muscle Groups

You could aim to train all major muscle groups or movements 2-3 times per week.

If you’re after muscle growth (bodybuilding), you could devote 2-3 days a week to each muscle group, with some days training heavier and others training lighter. 

An example 7-day workout splits for bodybuilding could be:

Push/Pull/Lower

• Day 1 – Push (Chest, Triceps)
• Day 2 – Pull (Back, Biceps)
• Day 3 – Lower (Quads)
• Day 4 – Push (Shoulders)
• Day 5 – Pull (Back, Biceps)
• Day 6 – Lower (Glutes, Hamstrings)
• Day 7 – Bonus Day (Abs, Calves, Forearms)

Upper/Lower

• Day 1 – Upper (Chest, Back, Abs)
• Day 2 – Lower (Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves)
• Day 3 – Upper (Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps)
• Day 4 – Lower (Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves)
• Day 5 – Upper (Chest, Back, Abs)
• Day 6 – Lower (Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves)
• Day 7 – Upper (Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps)

If you are after more strength (strength sports), you could devote 2-3 days to training the major movements of your sport or goal (bench, squat, deadlift OR snatch, clean, jerk).

An example 7-day workout splits for strength sports could be:

Powerlifting

• Day 1 – Back Squat, Split Squat, Glute Ham Machine
• Day 2 – Bench Press, Incline Press, Dumbbell Row
• Day 3 – Back Squat, Romanian Deadlift, Hamstring Curl
• Day 4 – Bench Press, Overhead Push Press, Pull Up
• Day 5 – Deadlift, Split Squat, Glute Ham Machine
• Day 6 – Bench Press, Dumbbell Row, Pull Up
• Day 7 – Accessory Day (Biceps, Triceps, Abs)

Olympic Weightlifting

• Day 1 – Snatch, Snatch Pull, Back Squat, 
• Day 2 – Power Clean & Press, Overhead Push Press, Pull Up
• Day 3 – Power Snatch, Front Squat, 
• Day 4 – Clean & Press, Snatch Balance, Overhead Push Press
• Day 5 – Power Snatch, Snatch High Pull, Pull Up
• Day 6 – Clean & Press, Clean Pull, Front Squat
• Day 7 – Power Clean/Power Snatch, Overhead Push Press, Upper Body Accessories (Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps, Chest, Back)

You can follow any of these split examples for a 7-day workout plan. However, you can also let the Fitbod app determine your split for you to create the most appropriate workout based on your progress and strength.

Sets and Reps Vary Between Plans

The sets and reps in a 7-day workout plan can vary depending on your goals and are not any different than 3-5 day plans. 

However, since you won’t take a rest day, ensure at least one day during the week is not as intense as the others. 

You can do this by doing more accessories in one day (isolation or single-joint movements) or even working a lower percentage of work for speed and technique to give the joints and nervous system a break (this applies to the more strength-focused workouts).

When in doubt, do less on a single day, as the 7-day workout plan accumulates a ton of volume throughout the program rather than a singular day. Your goal should be to get a good workout but NOT be very sore or destroyed after a workout. 

Take Loading (Intensity) Into Consideration

The main concern when training seven days per week is not going heavy every single day.  

If you train in high volumes with also high loads, you’re just simply not going to recover well between workouts, which will impact the quality of future workouts. 

Exercise Selection Is Key

Exercise selection is also critical.  In other words, selecting the right exercises on each workout.  

If you find heavier compound movements cause muscle soreness or limitations in subsequent workouts, you’ll want to limit these movements to 1-2 times per week. 

For example, in the above Powerlifting 7-day workout plan, we utilize the split squat twice a week to train the lower body, rather than doing another back squat. 

This is because the program already has you squatting 2-3 times a week and doing deadlifts 1-2 times a week. 

That may result in a lot of fatigue in the lower back, so as a preventive measure, the split squat allows muscle growth in the legs without adding extra stress.

When you use the Fitbod app, you won’t have to worry about which exercise to swap out, so you won’t experience fatigue or soreness. It adjusts to your fitness level and builds upon your progress as you get stronger.

• Related Article: Best Workout Split: How To Pick The Best Workout Split For You

The 7-Day Gym Workout Plan

Are you wondering what a typical 7-day workout plan might look like? 

Here’s a sample 7-day routine designed to build maximal amounts of muscle. 

Note: If you are a Fitbod user already, these workouts are merely for example.  The exact workouts in the app will be personalized using your training data and other workout preferences. 

Day 1: Monday (Lower)

• Back Squat: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Quads)
• Romanian Deadlift: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Hamstrings)
• Walking Lunge: 3 sets of 8-10 steps per side • (Quads)
• Back Extensions: 3 sets of 8-12 reps • (Lower Back)

Day 2: Tuesday (Upper)

• Incline Barbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Chest)
• Lat Pulldown: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Back)
• Dumbbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 8-12 reps • (Chest)
• Dumbbell Row: 4 sets of 8-12 reps • (Back)
• Cable Crossover Fly: 4 sets of 8-12 reps • (Chest)

Day 3: Wednesday (Upper)

• Seated Barbell Shoulder Press: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Shoulders)
• Dumbbell Skullcrusher: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Triceps)
• Dumbbell Lateral Raise To Front Raise: 4 sets of 8-12 reps • (Shoulders)
• Preacher Curl: 4 sets of 8-12 reps • (Biceps)
• Incline Dumbbell Curl: 4 sets of 8-12 reps • (Biceps)

Day 4: Thursday (Lower)

• Deadlift: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Hamstrings)
• Hack Squat: 4 sets of 10-15  reps • (Quads)
• Lying Hamstring Curl: 4 sets of 10-15 • (Hamstrings)
• Sled Push: 4-6 sets of 45-60 seconds • (Hamstrings)

Day 5: Friday (Upper)

• Barbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Chest)
• Chest Supported T Bar Row: 4 sets of 5-8 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 8-12 reps • (Chest)
• One Arm Cable Pulldown: 4 sets of 8-12 reps• (Back)
• Dumbbell Pullover: 4 sets 10-15 reps • (Chest)

Day 6: Saturday (Lower)

• Back Squat: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Quads)
• Balance Trainer Goblet Squat: 4 sets of 10-15 reps • (Quads)
• Cable Pull Through: 3 sets of 10-15 reps • (Glutes)
• Sled Push: 4-6 sets of 45-60 seconds

Day 7: Sunday (Upper)

• Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 4 sets of 5-8 reps • (Shoulders)
• Cable Tricep Pushdown: 4 sets of 10-15 reps • (Triceps)
• Cable Face Pull: 4 sets of 10-15 reps • (Shoulders)
• Preacher Curl: 4 sets of 8-12 reps • (Biceps)
• Incline Dumbbell Curl: 4 sets of 8-12 reps • (Biceps)

How To Progress Over Time

Week-to-week progressions should be very conservative during a 7-day workout plan, simply because recovery is very tough. 

It may be helpful to choose one exercise or movement per day that you try to progress, then aim to match your previous week’s numbers (or at least not crush yourself on every exercise, every week). 

Lastly, it is important to recognize that some weeks or days you might feel run down or beat up, so make sure to listen to your body. 

If this is a regular thing (more than one week at a time) then you may need to adjust the amount of weight you’re lifting or go back to a split that allows for more recovery.

Is It Okay To Train 7 Days a Week?

Training every day of the week is not necessarily good or bad, but more a question of what is the most effective way to reach your goals.

A 7-day workout program, while ambitious, does not offer much more benefit than training with intensity 5 to 6 days a week UNLESS you can stay consistent and recover properly. 

If you are looking to train every day of the week, be ready to commit yourself to training hard, eating better, and getting enough sleep. 

Seven-day workout plans can be very effective, but also intense and damaging if you do not recover properly and train smart. 

Dr. Ila Dayananda, Chief Medical Officer at Oula Health, explains:

“As a doctor, it’s vital to understand that rest and recovery are integral to any effective fitness regimen. Working out seven days a week without adequate rest can actually hinder your progress rather than promote it.

Your muscles need time to repair and rebuild after exercise, and continuous strain without sufficient recovery can lead to overtraining, fatigue, and increased risk of injury.”

If you cannot commit to being 100% focused on your efforts in and out of the gym, then you may want to rethink your ambitious efforts and put that 7-day workout energy into a highly effective and intense 5-day or 6-day workout program.