Strength training: the general body against split – articles

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One of the most common questions I’ve heard in 20 years that I have attended in the fitness industry is “Should I do full-body workouts or workouts (in short abbreviations)?” It didn’t matter, asked by a fitness enthusiast who worked at For six months or more than six years, the question is asked all the time, so I will answer it in this article.

Before getting into the answer, I first define what full-size workouts are. Then I will consider all the pros and cons of each and when / why I suggest using them. Finally, I will give a few examples of each of them, so that you can try them in the future.

As for definitions, whole-body training includes most, if not all, core muscles of the body from head to toe. In these workouts, the main muscle groups, such as the chest, back, shoulders, buttocks, ATVs and hamstrings, are trained. If time permits, small muscle groups, such as biceps, triceps and calves, are sometimes included.

Splits divide the body into parts or parts of the body, patterns of movement, or specific muscle groups. An example of a division dividing a body into sections / parts is the upper body / lower body split. This means that the body is divided into two different parts (in this case, the body is divided into upper and lower halves). One day you will train only the muscles of the upper body, and then work the muscles of the lower body the other day.

An example of the separation of movement frames would be training exercises with the upper body, which move in a horizontal direction for one day (rows, chests, flies, etc.). On the second day, leg exercises can be trained (you can divide them into articulated movements or squats, if you raise your legs for several days). On the third day, exercises will be used that move in a vertical direction (shoulder presses, side lifts, exits, etc.).

As for performing a separate workout with muscle groups, this is just a workout from 1 to 3 muscle groups in each session. An example of a split muscle group would be the following: Monday: chest, Tuesday: Back, Wednesday: shoulders, Thursday: legs, Friday: weapon.


The benefits of a full body workout are:

  • They are great for people who only have 2-3 days / week that they can train. This can be very important during heavy journeys.
  • They work well for people who do not have time to do cardio outside workouts.
  • They usually burn more calories than workouts with separate workouts, because more and more muscle groups are trained.
  • They reduce the likelihood of muscle imbalances, as most, if not all, train the main muscle groups.
  • They work well for people starting a fitness program, as these people do not need a lot of exercise for each muscle group.
  • Women, as a rule, love to train the general body more than men.

The disadvantages of whole body workouts are:

  • This is usually the longest workout, because so many muscles are trained.
  • It is difficult to increase the training volume (total amount of work done) over time, without doing a workout for a very long time.
  • Usually, because of the duration of the workout, you can use no more than 3 sets / exercises (if you do more, you do not have enough time or the training will take too much time).
  • They can increase overtraining potential, since each session does a lot of work.
  • A muscle and / or movement pattern that requires additional work may not receive the necessary work due to lack of time.
  • They can be very difficult to complete due to the time spent on development or general exercise during a workout.
  • Training the same large muscle groups in the following days can have a negative effect on the recovery of some people.
  • Some people find these workouts boring, as most exercises are basic.
  • Men usually do not like full body workouts.

The advantages of training splits are as follows:

  • People who have more experience in learning may benefit from them, because more progress is required to continue the progress. Splits allows you to use several exercises for each muscle group.
  • People who can and want to train more often during the week on an ongoing basis can benefit from splits.
  • If certain muscle groups need more individual work, separation of workouts is often required.
  • While it takes a person more days to train during the week to make training programs effective, there is more time to work on individual muscle groups as part of a workout, since other muscle groups cannot be trained that day.
  • During each workout, it is easier to train more than 2 to 3 groups / muscles, using training splits, because each workout has more time for training.
  • You can train for several days in a row with minimal negative impact on recovery due to the training of different muscle groups on different days.
  • These workouts often take less time than whole-body workouts, and allow extra time for cardiac work.
  • You can do more than 2 – 3 sets / exercises, since you have more time to practice.
  • Men often prefer to train this way.

The disadvantages of training splits are as follows:

  • People often have good intentions to do more workouts, but in the end they miss 1 or 2 workouts, so muscle groups are often skipped. This is typical for men; legs are often overlooked.
  • Training splits can cause muscle imbalances if some muscles are trained more often than others. For example, people often train muscles that they can see (chest, shoulders, arms, and ATVs) more than muscles that they do not see (back, hamstrings, buttocks, and calves), causing muscle imbalances.
  • A general calorie burn is usually not as high as a full-body workout, since fewer muscle groups are trained.
  • Women usually do not like separate training compared to men.

Over the years, I have used workouts, splits, and combinations of the whole body with a wide range of clients.

I used whole-body workouts with people who have limited time to exercise. As discussed above, if a person struggles to get to the gym 2-3 times a week, it makes sense to use whole-body workouts. In addition, if people have fat loss goals, whole-body workouts can be really effective because they burn more calories than splits. Finally, if someone is not familiar with workouts, whole-body workouts can be really effective because they need more practice to do basic exercises for neurological reasons (this is a fancy way of saying that they need to do more sports) and not so much training. volume initially.

I usually use splits on people who have no problem getting to the gym more than 4 times a week. These people usually have goals of increasing muscle size, strength, or both, so more training is required (either through increased exercise / muscle group, or sets / exercises). In addition, these people usually rise more than two years, so they need more to continue to see results.

One of the opportunities that many fitness enthusiasts often miss is that they think they can only do one or the other. However, there is no reason why both cannot be used for a period of 3-5 days. Total Body / Split Hybrid). Examples are given in the table below.

Here are 12 different examples of different ways you can use whole-body workouts, training splits, or a combination of both throughout the week. There are many examples in addition to the ones below that you can do, so I’ll just show you a few:

Workout option

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

2X / week Full Body

Of the whole body

Of the whole body

3X / week Full Body

Of the whole body

Of the whole body

Of the whole body

* Three-day training split

Upper body

Lower body

Upper body

** Three-day training split

Upper body (vertical)

Lower body

Lower body (horizontal)

*** Three-day training split

Back and biceps

Legs

Chest, shoulders and triceps

* 4-day training split

Lower body

Upper body

Lower body

Upper body

** 4-day training split

Lower body (hinge)

Upper body (vertical)

Lower body (squat)

Upper body (horizontal)

*** 4-day training split

Breast and Triceps

backwards

Legs

Shoulders and biceps

*** 5-day training split

chest

backwards

shoulders

Legs

Weapons

3 day hybrid

Upper body

Lower body

Of the whole body

4 day hybrid

Upper body

Lower body

Of the whole body

Of the whole body

4 day hybrid

Upper body (vertical)

Lower body

Upper body (horizontal)

Of the whole body

* Represents the separation of the training section of the body

** Represents the separation of the training motion plane.

*** Represents the separation of muscle group workouts

Hopefully, after reading this article, you understand the differences between workouts and splits of the whole body, as well as the pros and cons. Based on how much time you need to train and what your learning goals are, try the above examples of both. In fact, for best results, try each of the 12 examples during the year (one month) depending on how many days you can work each month. Give them a fair try, and see which one you like best and which are the best results for you!

In the field of health care, Cory Grenz is a program specialist and a master trainer – Life Time, Chanhassen

This article is not intended to treat or prevent diseases, nor is it a substitute for medical treatment and an alternative to medical advice. The use of recommendations in this and other articles depends on the choice and risk to the reader.