You might be asking yourself, “can I really improve my muscle mass and strength with a 2 day workout routine?”
The answer is absolutely.
For years, muscle media platforms have promoted pain and gain tactics. Then social media came along. Now, apparently anyone who is into the fitness lifestyle lives in the gym with their days spent doing nothing but working out and eating healthy. That’s what their account feed will lead you to believe at least.
Spoiler alert: that reality is far from the truth.
And, unfortunately, as social media has set the bar higher and higher… the fact of the matter is our global health is getting worse.
So, this article’s entire aim is to set you up with a 2 day workout routine that is both practical and efficient.
How to maximize your time in just two training sessions per week
With two training sessions per week, you’re going to need to commit at least 1 hour to both training sessions. This will allow you to warm up for 5 minutes, perform weight training for 30 minutes, perform cardio for 20 minutes, and cool down for 5 minutes.
During your weight training, you will want to pick compound movement patterns to get the most out of your time. The exercise selection will differ from person to person. However, if you focus on compound movement patterns you’ll burn more calories, build more muscle, and increase your strength.
The type of cardio you perform can be whichever form of cardio you enjoy the most. Just try to push yourself and don’t skip on doing it.
Also, don’t worry if you don’t have access to a gym. You can get the same benefits from working out at home. Your body provides plenty of resistance to see results. And exercising outdoors (assuming it is safe for you to do so) is a lot of fun.
In the next couple of sections, we’ll provide an example of a 2 day gym workout routine and a 2 day bodyweight/at home workout routine.
2 Day Gym Workout Routine
If you have access to a gym, the following template can be modified to best fit your goals and get an efficient workout in a gym setting.
Feel free to substitute any exercises for variations that train the same movement pattern. The key is finding exercises you enjoy and are comfortable performing. From there, increase the weight you use during the exercise with the focus of always maintaining proper form.
Perform this workout twice per week. You can perform it in a circuit or 1 exercise at a time. In a gym setting, especially if it is crowded, you’ll likely have more success performing 1 exercise at a time.
| Exercise | Sets | Rep Range |
| Squat | 3 | 5-8 |
| Deadlift | 3 | 5-8 |
| Bench Press | 3 | 5-8 |
| Shoulder Press | 3 | 5-8 |
| Back Row | 3 | 5-8 |
| Chin Up | 3 | 5-8 |
*Perform a 5 minute warm up prior to beginning your exercise. Stretch and foam roll if appropriate.
**Perform 20 minutes of cardio after completing the workout.
***Perform a 5 minute cool down after you complete cardio.
2 Day Bodyweight/At Home Workout
If you don’t have access to a gym or any sort of training equipment at home, the following workout can help you begin building a foundation of muscle.
Feel free to substitute any exercises for variations that train the same movement pattern. The key is finding exercises you enjoy and are comfortable performing. From there, increase the reps/sets you perform during the exercise with the focus of always maintaining proper form.
Perform this workout twice per week. You can perform it in a circuit or 1 exercise at a time.
| Exercise | Sets | Rep Range |
| Bodyweight Squat | 3 | 10-20 |
| Glute Bridge | 3 | 10-20 |
| Push Up | 3 | 10-20 |
| Wall Angels | 3 | 10-20 |
| Scapular Pinch/Retractions | 3 | 10-20 |
| Chin Ups | 3 | 10-20 |
*Perform a 5 minute warm up prior to beginning your exercise. Stretch and foam roll if appropriate.
** Perform 20 minutes of cardio after completing the workout.
***Perform a 5 minute cool down after you complete cardio.
Additional 2 Day Workout Splits
- A/B Workout Split
- 2 Day Full Body Dumbbell Only Workout
- 2 Day Kettlebell Full Body Workout Routine
- 2 Day Resistance Band Full Body Workout Routine
- 2 Day Full Body Workout at Planet Fitness
2 Day Workout FAQs
The following questions are the most commonly asked questions when it comes to 2 day per week workouts. If you have an additional question, please ask it as others might have the same question in the future.
Is working out two days per week enough?
Two sessions of training per week is way better than 0 training sessions per week. In fact, one training session per week is a start… and still better than 0 training sessions per week.
So, if you’re sitting on the other end of the screen and thinking, “what’s the point?” The point is you will increase your muscle mass by training effectively in the time you have available to commit.
On top of that, simply getting into the habit of working out will allow you to reap the benefits of training and potentially encourage you to find other ways to fit more activity into your daily life.
Of course, to further optimize your health, you’ll want to find ways to increase your activity outside of the training days. Some examples include parking further away from the entrance of your work and/or store, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, using a portion of your work breaks to take some steps, asking colleagues if they’d be interested in walking meetings, commuting to work actively if possible, etc.
How should I eat while working out?
Prioritize protein to allow for muscle growth and muscle retention. 25-30g or more of protein at each meal is a good goal. Get at least 25g of fiber if you’re a woman and 38g if you’re a man each day. The carb and fat content of your daily nutrition can be entirely up to your preferences. For fat content, keep saturated fats at about 10% or less of your daily caloric intake. Focus on whole foods (plenty of vegetables and fruits) and eliminate or highly limit ultra-processed foods. Drink water, black coffee, and unsweetened teas.
Those basic recommendations, if followed, will allow you to attain many health goals.
Should I use barbells during workouts?
Barbells are an excellent training tool and when barbell exercises are performed with proper form you can efficiently target multiple muscle groups while training natural movement patterns.
Barbell exercises are best performed with a spotter. And if you are an inexperienced lifter, it is important to work with a professional who knows and understands the proper form. There are also plenty of excellent resources for barbell training. The book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe is a recommended read for those interested in barbell training.
What if the bodyweight 2 day workout is too easy?
If you find the bodyweight workouts listed above too easy, you might benefit from investing in a gym membership or equipment to add resistance to the exercises.
If you are not interested in joining a gym quite yet, purchasing a set of resistance bands or adjustable dumbbells is a good starting point to make at home workouts more challenging. And if you’re interested in building a home gym, you could look into barbells, dumbbells, and/or kettlebells.
How do I continue to make progress working out 2 days per week?
Progression is key to any workout program. You will need to make the workouts more challenging over time to continuously build muscle and adapt. The easiest way to do this is by adding weight to the bar over time. It can be small increases in weight week to week. And over time, this will lead to massive improvements in your muscle and strength.
Do my workouts always have to be full body workouts?
Full body workouts will certainly be the most optimal for anyone who can only make it to the gym two days per week.
That said, you could certainly split your workouts up into an upper/lower workout routine or a push/pull workout routine. For those interested in push/pull workouts, you would need to train the push muscles of the leg on push days and the pull muscles of the leg on pull days.