5 Day Workout Program for Men

If you are looking for a workout program to start making gains again, you’ve come to the right place.

Before we jump into the meat and potatoes of this five-day workout program, I feel it is necessary we go over some tips to help you get the most out of your workout.

Related - How to Build Your Own Workout

Getting the Most Out of Your Workout

You want to get the most out of your workouts, right? All of these hours you are in the gym sweating and putting your body through hell should pay off.

In order to get the most out of your workout, try adopting some of these tips and habits into your current routine.

Eat More Nutritious Foods

The saying “muscles are made in the kitchen” should be something you drill into your head. You can completely demolish your muscles with the “latest and greatest” workout… but if your nutrition isn’t there, you won’t make the most progress.

This doesn’t mean you can’t eat the foods that make you happy, either.
Instead of trying to completely demonize food by calling them “good” or “bad,” try to look at food for what it is — nutrition. Start focusing on eating as many nutritious foods you can so you fuel your body.

This is where the 80/20 rule comes in handy. If you can manage to get 80% of your daily calories from healthy protein, nutritious fats, fruits, veggies, and carbohydrates, the other 20% can come from anything.

If you were maintaining a 2,000 calorie diet, you would aim to eat 1,600 calories from nutritious sources, with 400 calories left to eat on chocolate cake, cookies, or whatever. You can enjoy these foods due to fulfilling your nutritional needs for the day.

As you shift your focus from “eating whatever” to finding the most filling and nutritious foods you can afford, you won’t crave the sugars and empty calories as much. You may even start finding new foods you enjoy more. Since I’ve ditched eating a lot of sugar, fruit tastes great, my pallet has changed, and I feel better.
But that doesn’t stop me from eating a donut, cookie, or a bag of chips.

Learning to cook is what helped me lose 120 pounds twice.

Execute Proper Form

Learning the proper way to perform exercises will ensure you lift injury-free longer. While injuries can occur, performing the exercise properly will keep you from stressing muscles that weren’t supposed to be stressed.

Using proper form also keeps you from looking like an idiot. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being the center of attention… especially if it’s because I’m being an idiot.

Take your time to learn proper form for every exercise — don’t cheat your reps, and use a weight that is manageable.

Just like with food, aim for quality over quantity.

Allow Time for Proper Recovery

You break your muscles down in the gym and they have to repair themselves. You’re eating more nutritious foods which will improve recovery, but you will need to also sleep and de-stress.

Getting adequate sleep is important for optimizing body composition.
If you are struggling with getting enough sleep, here are 25 tips you can try to improve your sleep.

5 Day Workout Program for Men

This five-day workout program is going to put you through the test — you will train five days in a row and have two days off to recover.

Day 1 - Chest and Triceps

• Flat Barbell Bench - four sets of eight reps
• Close Grip Barbell Bench - three sets of 12 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Bench - three sets of 12 reps
• Skull Crusher - two sets of 15 reps
• Tricep Machine - three sets of 15 reps
• Chest Press Machine - three sets of 15 reps

Rest for 60 seconds between sets.

Day 2 - Legs

• Leg Curl - three sets of 10 reps
• Leg Extension - three sets of 10 reps
• Seated Calf Raise - three sets of 15 reps
• Walking Lunge - two sets of 20 reps
• Reverse Hyperextension - two sets of eight reps

Rest for 45 seconds between sets.

Day 3 - Back

• Deadlift - four sets of 8 reps
• Pendlay Rows - three sets of 8 reps
• Seated Close Grip Row - four sets of 12 reps
• Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns - three sets of 15 reps
• Face Pulls - four sets of 12 reps
• Side Planks - three sets holding as long as possible

Rest for 60 seconds between sets.

Day 4 - Shoulders and Traps

• Military Press - four sets of eight reps
• Machine Overhead Press - three sets of 12 reps
• Dumbbell Shrug - three sets of 15 reps
• Barbell Shrug - two sets of 20 reps
• Bent Over Lateral Raise - three sets of 15 reps

Rest for 60 seconds between sets.

Day 5 - Legs

• Squats - four sets of eight reps
• Goblet Squats - three sets of 12 reps
• Stiff Leg Deadlifts - four sets of 12 reps
• Leg Press - two sets of 10 reps
• Planks - three sets holding as long as possible

Rest for 60 seconds between sets.

Wrapping It Up

In order to make the best use of this workout, you’re going to have to make a few changes. They don’t have to be drastic changes, but they are changes.

Emphasize quality over quantity when it comes to food choices and reps in the gym.

Focus on progressively improving — add weight to the bar or perform more reps — in order to build more strength and muscle.