Every time you lift weights, you are in fact ripping your muscle fibers (assuming you’re lifting enough weight). When your body repairs your muscles, they are bigger and stronger, hence the effects of working out.

However, working out again and again, without giving your muscles a chance to repair, can have adverse effects on your body (called over training). This is why people split their workout.

To create an effective split, a person must first understand how long it takes to repair your muscles after they’ve been ripped.

The repair process is known as muscle protein-synthesis. And its when your body uses proteins which you have consumed to repair your ripped muscles. This process can last as long as 48 hours after your workout. Which means that, for 48 hours, you should not put any serious strain on that muscle.

To take advantage of this bit of knowledge, you can split your workout in any number of ways. What I like to do is split my workout by muscle group.

Continue reading for examples and tips!

For example:

Monday: Chest

Tuesday: Back

Wednesday: Legs

Thursday: Shoulders

Friday: Biceps & Triceps

Sat & Sun: Rest/Cardio

Or you could Try something like:

Monday: Chest & Back

Tuesday: Shoulders

Wednesday: Legs

Thursday: Chest & Back (Different Exercises than before)

Friday: Biceps & Triceps

The bottom line is, there are thousands of possible effective combinations which you can create to exercise your muscles and give them the proper amount of time to repair.

Quick Tip: For faster/more effective muscle repair, ensure you have a quality diet which caters to your goals (whether its weight-loss or muscle gain).

Please note: When your muscles rip, and repair, the changes in size and strength are minuscule, which is why it takes so long to gain mass.