Replicate Men’s Open Bodybuilder Kuba Cielen’s Training Split To Get Massive

In early January 2025, IFBB pro bodybuilder and coach Kuba Cielen increased his training frequency to boost his muscle-building goals. The trade he made was slightly less volume in each session to get to the gym more. He trains each body part every four days — three consecutive workouts and a rest day.

[My goal] with this program is testing my limits. You do not know what you are capable of until you truly try it.

—Kuba Cielen

Cielen’s strategy requires more attention to “Recovery modalities like stress management, sleep, time management,” Cielen divulged. Regarding volume and overtraining, research shows that 40+ weekly sets per muscle and high training frequency are effective for hypertrophy. (1)

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Kuba Cielen’s Push, Pull, & Legs Routine 

Cielen’s program alternates push, pull, & leg days, each with two parts (A and B) that complement each other to maximize recovery and gains. For example:

• Monday: Push A
• Tuesday: Pull A
• Wednesday: Legs
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: Push B
• Saturday: Pull B
• Sunday: Legs
• Monday: Rest
• Repeat

Push A (16 Sets)

The first push workout centers on lighter weights and more volume. 

1. Machine Lateral Raise
2. Machine Pec Flye
3. Incline Dumbbell Press
4. Flat Machine Press
5. Deficit Push-Up
6. Standing Triceps Press
7. Cable Overhead Extension
8. Single-Arm Cable Lateral Raise

Cielen prioritizes his medial delts to make him look as wide as possible. He doesn’t count deficit push-up sets and reps, explaining, “Not all volume is created equal; one exercise is completely worlds apart for stimulus and fatigue.” 

Push B (16 Sets)

The second push day revolves around heavy tension with compound exercises.

1. Lying Cuffed Cable Lateral Raise
2. Low-Incline Dumbbell Press
3. Incline Machine Chest Press
4. Dips
5. Incline Cable Flye
6. Cable Overhead Press
7. Machine Lateral Raise 

“Dips are one of the best overall compound exercises for chest and triceps; go deep range of motion,” Cielen prescribed. “Dips carry over to other exercises and help improve shoulder mobility. I take pride in my range of motion.”

Pull A (17 Sets)

1. Single-Arm Pulldown x 2 sets
2. Chest-Supported Row x 3 
3. Single-Arm Lat Row x 3 sets 
4. Neutral Grip Row x 3 sets
5. Shrugs x 1 set
6. Cable Preacher Curl x 3 sets
7. Machine Rear Delt Flye x 2 sets 

Most of Cielen’s back movements are lat-biased to complement wide delts and a tapered waist for the X-frame aesthetic. He feels a better mind-muscle connection from heavy rows versus pulldowns for his lats and upper back. 

Pull B (17 Sets)

Pull day part two consists of seven sets for the lats and four for the upper back. 

1. Single-Arm Cable Row 
2. T-Bar Row
3. Single-Arm Machine Pulldown
4. Seated Upper Back Row
5. Single-Arm Plate-Loaded Row 
6. Bayesian Biceps Curl
7. Cable Reverse Flye

Legs A (11 Sets)

Cielen’s leg days start with hamstrings, a science-backed approach, and the secret of four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler. Legs A is quad-focused:

1. Hamstring curl x 3 
2. Leg extension x 2 
3. Safety Bar Squat x 1 
4. Leg Press
5. Lying Leg Curl
6. Calf Press

Front squats with a safety bar force Cielen more upright, increasing knee flexion for bigger quads. He achieves this with a low stance on leg presses. 

Legs B (11 Sets)

This workout biases the hamstrings with a hip hinge to accentuate the loaded stretch.

1. Hamstring Curl x 3 
2. Leg Extension x 3 
3. Squat Press x 1 
4. Deficit Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
5. Calf press 

Cielen offered hip hinge tips for RDLs, saying, “Your goal with hip hinges is not training your lower back; it’s reaching full hip flexion. Once your hips can’t travel farther back, that’s your range of motion.”

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A post shared by Kuba Sylvester Cielen (@kuba_sylvester_cielen)

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Soreness & Progression

Cielen recommends training through soreness as long as you’re progressing and not overtraining. “The biggest telltale sign for progression is your ability to progress your lifts; soreness is not relevant,” Cielen says. To bust through plateaus towards the end of training blocks, Cielen incorporates rest-pause sets and drop sets to ignite more stimulus.

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Reference

1. Pelland, J., Remmert, J., Robinson, Z., Hinson, S., & Zourdos, M. (2024). The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain. Retrieved from https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/460

Featured image: @kuba_sylvester_cielen on Instagram