Hi all, for the last 3,5 months I've been doing full body workouts 2-3 times a week (twice at the gym, once at home) and my trainer at the gym recommended I'd do split workouts where I train 2 muscle groups per workout, 3 exercises per group, 3 times a week (where I'll have trained everything by the end of the week). Will that be better for me?

Quick overview of my full body workouts:

Wednesday => 1 quads exercise, 1 hamstrings, 2 back exercises, 2 chest (includes 1 dropset), 1 shoulder, 2 biceps (incl dropset), 1 triceps, 2 abs (incl one dropset)
Friday (at home) => 2 abs, 2-3 biceps, 1 triceps, 1 shoulder, 4 chest
Sunday => 1 quads exercise, 1 hamstrings, 2 back exercises, 2 chest (includes 1 dropset), 1 shoulder, 2 biceps (incl dropset), 1 triceps, 2 abs (incl one dropset)

Number of sets/reps full body: all normal exercises 3 sets of 8-10 reps, dropsets 4 sets A.M.R.A.P.


Split workouts 3 times a week with 3 exercises per muscle group (and 2 muscle groups per workout) would mean:

+1 quads exercise every week
+1 hamstring every week
-1 back exercise
-5 chest exercises
0 change shoulders
-3 or -4 biceps

0 change triceps

-3 abs exercises

In other words: is it me or will I actually be training less with this split workout setup? Should I go with 4 exercises per muscle group? That would still mean a big drop in exercises for chest, biceps and abs, so maybe I need to do 5 exercises per group?

Let me know what you guys think! This is my first time switching to split workouts so I could use all the help I can get

Dennis,

I trained using muscle split workouts for 29 years. This year I switched to full body Push/Pull workouts. Depending how you do either one will dictate how often a muscle group gets trained per week. When you are younger, your muscles can handle more frequent training sessions per week as long as you eat and rest enough. As you get older, the body and its recovery abilities slow down. Either workout routine work fine if you train with enough intensity - either thru progressive overload or increased volume/decreased rest.

I switched to full body as I find you burn more calories since you are training more muscle groups. With muscle splits, you are training a couple of body parts and even if you increase the number of sets or exercises you are still only training a couple muscle groups. When I did muscle splits, I either did 3 or 4 day a week workouts. When I was in my twenties, I did 6-day a week 3-on-1-off types of muscle splits. As I got older and with the responsibilities of work and life, this was too much so I cut back.

3 Day split was:

Mon = Chest/Back/abs

Wed = Legs

Fri = Arms/Shoulders/abs

When I did 4 day splits:

Mon = Chest/Tris

Tues = Legs/abs

Thu = Bis/Shoulders

Fri = Back/Abs

My 4 day Push/Pull full body routines:

Mon and Thu = Quads, Calves, Chest, Tris, Abs

Tue and Fri = Back, Bis, Shoulders, Hams, Abs

The bottom line is it is not really how many days or how many reps/sets you do but rather the intensity and volume that builds muscle and strength. Also, small muscle groups like arms and shoulders don't need anymore than 2-3 exercises and large muscle groups like back, chest, and legs need no more than 3-4 exercises. The sets and reps are 3 sets in the 8-10 range for small muscles and 4 sets for 8-10 reps for big muscles. If done properly, this is enough for a natural athlete.

John

I think that you have to change it up eveyonce in a while. My take on full body workouts is that you will lose more bodyfat because of the intensity that you put in. But if you do the same amount in a split workout, say chest and biceps in one day, you'll lose fat also. You can make gains either way :)

So you've been going at it for several decades John? Wow, respect man! How long have you been training exactly?

Thanks a lot for the detailed info. I appreciate the fact that a veteran such as yourself takes the time to school rookies like me :-)

As for doing split workouts: I've noticed how much of a difference decreased rest between sets, different types of sets (pyramid, drop & super) and using different weights can make during my workouts and I've been reading about thick bar training lately (hat tip Scott), but is there anything else I can do to increase intensity or volume? I'm one of those stubborn natural athletes who wants to know every single factor that can make things more challenging lol.

Thanks for pointing out push/pull workouts to me btw. Have you noticed any specific benefits of push/pull versus your regular split workout?

It would be awesome to see some kind of overview of all the different styles of splits and sets with some pros and cons of each. Do you know if anything like that is out there?

It's all about them lean gains, right? Haha. Mixing things up definitely keeps things interesting. I've also noticed that I grow muscle faster the week after I start with an entirely new workout routine compared to, say, week 2 or 3 of doing that routine.

There is so many different routines out there. Really it all depends on you, what you got time for and what works for you. Give a 3 day a week full body routine a try for 4-6 weeks and see how it works for you. 3 day full body training works the best for beginners. I like to do straight sets and a lot of super sets. You also got to see if you respond best to once a week training for a muscle group or twice a week. Doing twice a week takes up more time and you usually end up in the gym 5-6 days a week but once a week you can do 3-4 days a week. There are so many variables though. I'd stick with 2 exercises per small muscle group and 3-4 exercises for large muscle groups a week. I started out working all muscle groups once a week with chest being the exception at twice a week and it worked well for me for the first couple years. Also some 5x5 trainingg is great for strength and size, 3x12-15 for endurance and size. 3x8-10 is a good middle ground. If you have trouble progressing with weights which you should do every week try shortening your rest period. Progression is key!

Dennis,

I started when I just turned 20 and I am 50 now so it has been a little over 30 years to date.

No worries - I try to respond to as many posts as possible as that is what this forum is all about :-)

Progressive overload and intensity can be achieved in several ways:

1) Heavy weights/low reps (80% - 90% of max/ 4-6 rep range)

2) Higher volume and lower rest per set with medium heavy weights (60% - 75% of max) and higher reps (8-12 range)

3) Circuits - multiple exercises done at once for different body parts

Some people respond better to #1 and some to #2. The first thing you must do is determine which type of training style you respond best to. Myself and Scott respond best to training style #2. Others just don't get big or strong enough and respond better to training style #1. Everyone will get some benefit from #3 if used occassionally.

Variety is key but not too much variety. You have to give your body a chance to respond to your workouts. Sometimes people change things up too rapidly. I am doing full body splits and training like #2 but sometimes I will make my PUSH or PULL workout like #3 - I will squat, then do DB chest press, then do a tricep exercise, and then do a calf exercise - all as one set, for a PUSH example. My point is you don't need to do muscle splits for 8 months then switch to full body for 6 months then switch back to spark growth and add variety. Stick with one particular training style that works for you and change the exercises, tempo, weight, intensity, and volume.

As for full body workouts, I use them now because my goals have changed. When I was in my 20's and 30's, all I wanted was to be big and strong. Muscle splits are the best way to attain this and I was doing 6 day a week 3-on-1-off training routines and eating 7-8 times a day. At my age now, I am as big as I think I will ever be naturally and I am more concerned with staying lean and strong and my body doesn't recover as fast anymore now that I am older. Full body workouts definitely burn more calories as you are working many more muscle groups at once. They also allow me to train all body parts twice a week in only 4 days. I can't "live" down the gym nor do I want to anymore with work and life responsibilities. My workouts are intense, effective, and done in 60 minutes or less and I get 3 rest days per week.

There is no "best" workout and they really all have benefits and the cons are subjective based on one's preferences. The best advice would be to determine which training style works best for you from a muscular development standpoint then choose a routine you enjoy and you will stick with - be it muscle splits or full body. That and a rock solid meal plane will be all you need :-)

John

One thing you can do that I like to do is train two bodyparts at once and utilize the split as the "rest" so you are non-stop. This put's an incredible amount volume on the muscle.

Similar to this workout.

This week's my first week doing split workouts I'm doing 2 exercises for small muscle groups and 4-5 for the big ones. As for sets and reps: 4 sets of 12... and for good measure I tried to make the last set a burn set (as in, as many reps as possible). Haven't always succeeded in doing that just because I need to get used to doing splits, but I'll get there. Still exploring how much weight to use as well since there are several exercises I've never done before.

Thanks for your thoughts man!

So far I've only given #2 (medium heavy weights, high rep count) a try but a couple weeks from now when I'm used to split workouts I'll give heavy weight/low rep and crcuits a try for sure. Really curious to see how they'll affect me.

So far, what I've noticed with split workouts is that I'm reaching the point of muscle failure with every muscle group and feel I'm building every group more (which is awesome), but energy wise I still have a lot left at the end of the training. Perhaps that's because I'm underestimating weights for exercises I haven't done before. Interesting stuff!

Have seen you do a lot of supersets in your videos but actually haven't tried them yet myself, mostly because I've become hooked to drop sets haha. Will definitely give supersets a try during my next workout though! #HTH!