The best free aesthetics programs, compared
16 aesthetics programs, every one free and shown in full on its own page. Pick by how many days you can train, then by what you have to train with.
- 2 days a week: Dumbbell Only Full Body
- 3 days a week: Dumbbell + Bench Full Body, Strong Curves (Beginner), German Volume Training (GVT), Vince Gironda 8×8, DoggCrapp (DC Training)
- 4 days a week: Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine, Dorian Yates HIT
- 5 days a week: Bro Split, Wolverine, PHAT, Push Pull Legs · Upper Lower
- 6 days a week: Metallicadpa PPL, Arnold Split, High Frequency PPL, Mountain Dog PPL
All 16, line by line
| Program | Days | Session | Length | Level | Equipment | By |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dumbbell Only Full Body | 2 | 45–60 min | Ongoing | Beginner | Dumbbells only | Traditional |
| Dumbbell + Bench Full Body | 3 | 40–55 min | Ongoing | Beginner | Dumbbells only | Traditional |
| Strong Curves (Beginner) | 3 | 40–50 min | 12 weeks | Beginner | Full gym | Bret Contreras & Glen Cordoza |
| German Volume Training (GVT) | 3 | 40–55 min | Ongoing | Intermediate | Full gym | Charles Poliquin |
| Vince Gironda 8×8 | 3 | 30–40 min | Ongoing | Intermediate | Full gym | Vince Gironda |
| DoggCrapp (DC Training) | 3 | 20–30 min | 2-week cycle, repeats | Advanced | Full gym | Dante Trudel |
| Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine | 4 | 45–60 min | Ongoing | Beginner | Full gym | Lyle McDonald |
| Dorian Yates HIT | 4 | 40–50 min | Ongoing | Advanced | Full gym | Dorian Yates |
| Bro Split | 5 | 50–70 min | Ongoing | Intermediate | Full gym | Traditional |
| Wolverine | 5 | 45–60 min | 4-week cycle, repeats | Intermediate | Full gym | David Kingsbury |
| PHAT | 5 | 50–70 min | Ongoing | Advanced | Full gym | Layne Norton |
| Push Pull Legs · Upper Lower | 5 | 55–70 min | Ongoing | Advanced | Full gym | Traditional |
| Metallicadpa PPL | 6 | 50–70 min | Ongoing | Intermediate | Full gym | Metallicadpa |
| Arnold Split | 6 | 50–70 min | Ongoing | Advanced | Full gym | Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| High Frequency PPL | 6 | 45–60 min | Ongoing | Advanced | Full gym | Durata |
| Mountain Dog PPL | 6 | 50–65 min | Ongoing | Advanced | Full gym | John Meadows |
Session times are worked out from each program's sets, reps and rests: the same estimate the app shows.
Who each one suits
Dumbbell Only Full Body
Best forRun this if your equipment starts and ends at dumbbells — a home gym corner, a hotel fitness room, a garage with adjustables.
ProgressionDumbbells jump in big steps — often 2 kg or more per hand — so adding weight every session is a dead end.
Dumbbell + Bench Full Body
Best forThis is the right pick if your home gym is dumbbells plus a bench and you want a plan that uses both properly rather than a barbell program with awkward substitutions.
ProgressionEverything runs on wide-range double progression, the sane way to progress when your weights only exist in fixed jumps.
Strong Curves (Beginner)
Best forAnyone whose first goal is building the glutes and lower body — the book was written for women, but the programming is just good lower-body hypertrophy training and works for anyone.
ProgressionProgression works on two levels, exactly as the book writes it.
German Volume Training (GVT)
Best forGVT is for intermediate lifters who want size and are prepared to eat for it — running a 10×10 routine in a calorie deficit is a fast route to burnout.
ProgressionThe load stays fixed until you've earned the increase: complete all ten sets of ten — the full hundred reps — with the same weight and clean form, then add a small jump (2.5 kg is plenty) next session and rebuild.
Vince Gironda 8×8
Best forThe vince gironda 8x8 program suits experienced lifters chasing a dense, classic-physique look — especially as a deliberate change of stimulus after months of heavy low-rep work, or during a cut when joints appreciate lighter loads.
ProgressionLoad progression is earned, not scheduled.
DoggCrapp (DC Training)
Best forThis is an advanced program with no apologies.
ProgressionThe rule is beating the logbook.
Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine
Best forThe generic bulking routine is for intermediates in a deliberate calorie surplus — the name is a contract, and running it while cutting misses the design entirely.
ProgressionEverything advances by double progression.
Dorian Yates HIT
Best forThis is an advanced hypertrophy program, and 'advanced' here means something specific: you must be able to genuinely reach muscular failure, which most lifters have never actually done, and then stop.
ProgressionEvery exercise runs double progression off its one working set.
Bro Split
Best forPick this split if per-session focus matters more to you than per-week frequency: you get to empty the tank on one muscle, chase the pump through four angles, and know it has a week to grow back.
ProgressionOne rule runs the entire week: double progression.
Wolverine
Best forThis wolverine workout is for intermediates who want strength numbers and a visible physique from the same program and can genuinely commit five days a week — the volume only pays off if the sessions actually happen.
ProgressionEverything keys off a working max set at 90% of your true 1RM — the same conservative buffer as a 5/3/1 training max, and the reason week three's 90% sets are heavy but honest.
PHAT
Best forThis is an advanced program and the workload is real: five long sessions, over twenty working sets on some days, and every muscle hit twice a week.
ProgressionThe power lifts add weight whenever you finish every set within the 3–5 (or 5–8) rep prescription.
Push Pull Legs · Upper Lower
Best forThis 5-day split fits the intermediate who has outgrown three-day programs but knows a six-day PPL would collapse the first busy week.
ProgressionTwo engines drive the week.
Metallicadpa PPL
Best forDespite the nickname, the real entry requirement is scheduling, not experience: six gym days a week, every week.
ProgressionThe primaries progress like a classic linear program: 2.5 kg per session on bench, press, rows and squats, 5 kg on deadlifts, with the AMRAP top set showing how much room is left.
Arnold Split
Best forRun this if you want classic bodybuilding volume and can actually give it six days a week — the split has no rest built in except Sunday, and the sessions are not short.
ProgressionThere is no percentage math here — the pyramid itself is the regulator.
High Frequency PPL
Best forThis program assumes hypertrophy is the goal and six days are genuinely available — there is exactly one rest day, and skipping sessions unravels the twice-a-week frequency the whole design leans on.
ProgressionThe heavy anchors — bench, row, squat, overhead press, deadlift, weighted chins — progress the strict way: land the top of the rep window (6–8 on the barbell lifts, 4–6 for deadlift, 6–10 on chins) on every single set and the weight rises next time that day comes around.
Mountain Dog PPL
Best forThis routine is for the hypertrophy-focused lifter whose joints have started billing for years of heavy barbell PPL — or who simply responds better to feeling a muscle work than to watching a bar-weight number.
ProgressionMeadows programmed by feel, adding load whenever reps were crisp.
Common questions
How many days a week do these aesthetics programs take?
From 2 to 6 days a week. 2 days: Dumbbell Only Full Body. 3 days: Dumbbell + Bench Full Body, Strong Curves (Beginner), German Volume Training (GVT), Vince Gironda 8×8 and DoggCrapp (DC Training). 4 days: Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine and Dorian Yates HIT. 5 days: Bro Split, Wolverine, PHAT and Push Pull Legs · Upper Lower. 6 days: Metallicadpa PPL, Arnold Split, High Frequency PPL and Mountain Dog PPL.
Which of these has the shortest sessions?
DoggCrapp (DC Training), at about 20–30 minutes a session. Session times are worked out from each program's sets, reps and rests, the same estimate the app shows.
Which ones suit a beginner?
Dumbbell Only Full Body, Dumbbell + Bench Full Body, Strong Curves (Beginner) and Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine. They are written for lifters in their first year or so of training.
Can I run any of them without a gym?
Yes: Dumbbell Only Full Body (dumbbells only) and Dumbbell + Bench Full Body (dumbbells only). The rest need a barbell or a full gym.
Are these programs free?
Yes. All 16 are free to run in Durata, and every set of every session is shown on each program's own page.
Run any of them in Durata
Every program here is free in Durata, with each one's own progression worked out for you as you log.