If you want to build muscle efficiently and make every rep count, you need a structured plan that pushes your body to its limits. This 6-day hypertrophy-focused workout plan is designed to maximize muscle growth by focusing on training to failure, utilizing effective rep ranges, and structuring workouts for optimal recovery and performance.
The Science Behind This Program
A common mistake in training is stopping too soon—leaving reps on the table and missing out on real growth. In this program, every exercise (except for Reverse Lunges into RDLs) follows a structured failure approach:
- The first set of each exercise should be taken to complete failure within 8-12 reps—if you can’t reach 8, the weight is too heavy; if you exceed 12, it’s too light.
- After the first set, immediately dropset or superset into the second exercise, also taken to failure.
- The following two sets of the same movement will also go to failure, though likely at lower rep counts due to muscle fatigue and mechanical failure.
- This structure eliminates inefficient reps and ensures that each set contributes directly to hypertrophy rather than just warming up the muscles.
Why Train to Failure?
Traditional “3 sets of 12 reps” only makes the last few reps truly effective—the early reps don’t push your muscles enough to force adaptation. By hitting failure right away in the first set, you ensure that every rep counts, and the following sets continue working within the most effective range.
Training to failure, combined with explosive concentric movements (pushing the weight up) and slow eccentric phases (lowering the weight under control), maximizes muscle fiber recruitment and tension, two key factors for hypertrophy.
Smart Workout Structure for Maximum Gains
This program is designed with a strategic split to prevent overuse injuries while maximizing performance:
- Legs come first because they require the most energy and involve the entire posterior chain. Also the growth hormones that come from leg workouts will also help the other muscles groups grow faster!
- Push day follows, giving the lower back a break before pulling movements.
- Pull day comes after chest, allowing full-body recovery cycles while maintaining high training volume.
- Abs and stretching are alternated because abs are a muscle group that needs rest, just like any other, while stretching is essential for joint health and flexibility.
- Cardio is scheduled at the end of each session because weight training depletes glycogen stores first. This way, cardio primarily burns fat instead of just glycogen, increasing fat-burning efficiency in the resting phase.
Recovery and Nutrition: The Other Half of the Equation
Muscle growth happens outside the gym, not just during workouts. To get the most out of this program, prioritize:
- Rest & Recovery: Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night and take at least one full rest day each week. We also have an article to help with optimizing your sleep.
- Proper Nutrition: Fuel your body with adequate protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats to support muscle repair and energy needs. Keep an eye out for our upcoming articles featuring healthy recipes tailored to muscle growth and recovery.
- Hydration: Staying well-hydrated helps with muscle function, endurance, and recovery.
A Program Built for Results
This 60-75 minute hypertrophy training plan is built to maximize effective reps, streamline workouts, and optimize recovery. By following this program with intensity, consistency, and proper recovery, you’ll be on your way to building serious muscle.
This program follows a Legs, Push, Pull split, designed for both optimal muscle recovery and maximum performance. You can structure it in two ways: Day 1-3, then a rest day, followed by Day 4-6, then another rest day—or complete all six days in a row before taking a full rest or active recovery day. This flexibility allows you to tailor the program to your recovery needs while ensuring each muscle group gets trained with enough intensity and rest to promote growth and strength gains.
At the end of this post, you’ll find sample cardio sessions and ab workouts to complement the program and enhance your results. Plus, we’ll be releasing more workout splits for different goals or different schedules in the future, so stay tuned!
If you find this plan helpful, don’t forget to screenshot it, save it, and share it with friends and family who might benefit from it. Let’s get stronger together!
Let’s dive into the full program below and start making every rep count!
🔥 6-Day Hypertrophy Workout Plan
Split: Legs, Push, Pull, Rest, Repeat
💡 Key Guidelines:
✔ Each exercise is performed for 3 sets total.
✔ 8-12 reps per set for hypertrophy. If you can’t hit 8 reps, lower the weight. If you exceed 12, increase the weight.
✔ Train to failure. First set should reach failure within 8-12 reps, followed by a dropset or superset.
✔ Concentric phase (lifting) should be explosive, eccentric phase (lowering) should be controlled.
✔ Workout duration: 60-75 minutes total per session.
✔ Front delts are skipped since chest exercises engage them heavily.
📅 Day 1: Legs (Quads & Hamstrings Focus)
🔹 Warm-up: 10 minutes of leg mobility
💪 Exercise 1: Reverse Lunges into RDLs (Superset)
✅ Reverse Lunges – 3 sets of 8 reps per side
✅ Rest 15 sec, then superset into Dumbbell RDLs – 8-12 reps
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 2: Dumbbell Squats into Calf Raises (Superset)
✅ Dumbbell Squats – 3 sets to failure (8-12 reps)
✅ Rest 15 sec, then superset into Calf Raises (8-12 reps)
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 3: Leg Press Machine (Dropset)
✅ Leg Press – 3 sets to failure (8-12 reps)
✅ Drop weight by 10-20 lbs, continue to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
🔥 Finisher: 10-minute Abs Workout + 10-minute cardio
📅 Day 2: Chest & Triceps
🔹 Warm-up: 5-minute shoulder mobility work
💪 Exercise 1: Dumbbell Incline Press (Dropset or Superset)
✅ Work to failure in 8-12 reps, then
✅ Dropset 10-20 lbs OR superset into Decline Push-ups to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 2: Dumbbell Flat Bench Press (Dropset or Superset)
✅ First set failure within 8-12 reps, then
✅ Dropset or Superset into push-ups
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 3: Tricep Dips (Dropset)
✅ Weighted if possible – 8-12 reps, then
✅ Drop weight and continue to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 4: Lying Tricep Extensions into Lateral Raises (Superset)
✅ Lying Tricep Extensions – 8-12 reps
✅ Superset into Dumbbell Lateral Raises
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
🔥 Finisher: 10-minute Stretch + 10-minute cardio
📅 Day 3: Back & Biceps
🔹 Warm-up: 5-minute lat activation work
💪 Exercise 1: Vertical Pulling – Weighted Pull-ups or Lat Pulldown (Dropset)
✅ 8-12 reps, then Dropset to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 2: Horizontal Pulling – Seated Row or Bent-Over Rows (Dropset)
✅ 8-12 reps, then Dropset to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 3: Low Back Hinge – Back Extensions into Bodyweight Back Extensions on a Roman’s Chair (Superset)
✅ Back Extensions with Dumbbells – 8-12 reps
✅ Superset into Bodyweight Back Extensions to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 4: Biceps & Rear Delts (Superset)
✅ Seated Bicep Curls at 30° incline – 8-12 reps
✅ Superset into Rear Delt Flys
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
🔥 Finisher: 10-minute Abs Workout + 10-minute cardio
📅 Day 4: Legs (Glutes & Hamstrings Focus)
🔹 Warm-up: 10-minute leg mobility
💪 Exercise 1: Bulgarian Split Squats
✅ 8-12 reps per side
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 2: Leg Press into Calf Raises (Superset)
✅ Leg Press – 8-12 reps to failure
✅ Superset into Calf Raises to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 3: RDLs into Dumbbell Squats (Superset)
✅ 8-12 reps RDLs, then
✅ Superset into Dumbbell Squats to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
🔥 Finisher: 10-minute Stretch + 10-minute cardio
📅 Day 5: Chest, Triceps & Lateral Delts
🔹 Warm-up: 5-minute shoulder mobility work
💪 Exercise 1: Tricep Dips (Dropset)
✅ 8-12 reps, then Dropset to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 2: Cable Flys (Dropset)
✅ 8-12 reps, then Dropset to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 3: Lying Tricep Extensions into JM Curls (Superset)
✅ Lying Tricep Extensions – 8-12 reps, then
✅ Superset into JM Curls
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 4: Lateral Raises (Dropset)
✅ 8-12 reps, then Dropset to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
🔥 Finisher: 10-minute Abs Workout + 10-minute cardio
📅 Day 6: Back & Biceps
🔹 Warm-up: 5-minute lat activation work
💪 Exercise 1: Chin-ups (Dropset)
✅ Weighted if possible – 8-12 reps, then
✅ Dropset to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 2: Deadlifts into Australian Pull-ups (Superset)
✅ 4-8 reps Deadlifts, then
✅ Superset into Australian Pull-ups
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 3: Zottman Curls (Dropset)
✅ 8-12 reps, then Dropset to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
💪 Exercise 4: Rear Delts – Hip Huggers (Dropset)
✅ 8-12 reps, then Dropset to failure
✅ Rest 1-2 mins between sets (10 mins total)
🔥 Finisher: 10-minute Stretch + 10-minute cardio
This balanced hypertrophy program ensures muscle growth, strength, core stability, and cardiovascular health.
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Check out this great video for a full body stretching routine, and keep reading for ab workout options and cardio options.
10-Minute Ab Workout Plans
Workout 1: Core Strength & Stability
- McGill Curl-Up – 3 sets x 10 reps/side (5-sec hold at top)
- Side Plank – 3 sets x 20 sec/side
- Bird Dog – 3 sets x 8 reps/side (hold 2 sec)
- Dead Bug – 3 sets x 10 reps/side
Workout 2: Muscle-Building Crunch Variations
- Cable/Chest-Loaded Crunch – 3 sets x 12 reps
- Hanging Knee Raise – 3 sets x 10 reps
- Russian Twists (weighted) – 3 sets x 12 reps/side
- Plank to Shoulder Tap – 3 sets x 10 taps/side
Workout 3: Hybrid Core & Anti-Rotation
- Stir the Pot (Stability Ball) – 3 sets x 8 circles/side
- Pallof Press (Band/Cable) – 3 sets x 10 reps/side
- Ab Wheel Rollout – 3 sets x 8 reps
- Reverse Crunch – 3 sets x 12 reps
Each workout can be done in 10 minutes by minimizing rest (15-30 sec between exercises). Let me know if you’d like adjustments!
10-Minute Moderate-Intensity Cardio Options
- Jump Rope Intervals
- 30 sec: Jump rope (moderate pace)
- 30 sec: March in place (active rest)
- Repeat for 10 minutes
- Bodyweight Circuit
- 40 sec: High knees
- 20 sec: Rest
- 40 sec: Butt kicks
- 20 sec: Rest
- 40 sec: Mountain climbers
- 20 sec: Rest
- Repeat for 10 minutes
- Stair Climbing / Step-Ups
- 45 sec: Fast stair climbing or step-ups (on a sturdy surface)
- 15 sec: Rest
- Repeat for 10 minutes
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Conclusion:
Building muscle takes time, consistency, and the willingness to push yourself past your limits—but with this plan, you’re set up for real results! Stick with it, challenge yourself, and don’t forget that recovery and nutrition are just as important as the work you put in at the gym. If you found this guide helpful, screenshot the workout and share it with friends or training partners who might benefit from it! Stay tuned for more workout splits, healthy recipes, and fitness tips to help you stay on track. Now, let’s get to work and make those gains happen!
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Some🔥items to check out!
Incorporating these products into your fitness regimen can significantly enhance your performance and recovery. Investing in quality supplements and equipment is a step toward achieving your health and fitness goals.
1. Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Monohydrate Powder
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2. Cambivo Extra Long and Wide Yoga Mat
A high-quality yoga mat provides the comfort and stability needed for effective stretching and recovery sessions. The Cambivo Extra Long and Wide Yoga Mat measures 84 inches by 32 inches, offering ample space for various exercises. Its non-slip surface ensures safety during workouts, and the thick, durable material provides excellent cushioning for joints.
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