--FULL BODY vs SPLITS-- [Vote]

[krz357]

I prefer full body workouts. That's what worked for me the most. Day on, day off schedule- working everything.

Just wondering what you guys are doing for your workouts...

[Big]

That wouldn't work for me at all, I need more than 2 days to recover from the last session, if I tried that it would quickly lead to overtraining.

[ottomaddox]

Not enough time to fully recover between workouts, you've got to give yourself more rest. I like a four day split with 2 days on and 1 to 2 days off, repeat. I use my off days for cardio and abs.

[BONE.CRUSHER]

a total body workout is only good for a novice because its a safe and conservative program that will introduce them to resistance training & build a foundatin for strength n muscle tone improvements, but for the advanced they wont benefit as much as if they do a split program

[hugovsilva]

When you get to a more "advanced" level there's no way you can do full body workouts.

[Garnelek]

Split for sure.5 days

[Drummerboy]

split. I would get injured if i retrained a body part so soon. also, at the intensity i train, there is no shake in he11 that would power me through hitting every body part in one session. 2 muscle groups all out, and im cashed in... specially legs... its like BoneCrusher says... only good to wake your body up before you actually start to lift hard.

~DB~

[Ronnie Rowland]

Splits are by far the way to go!

But, I have been training a 74 year old man who is gaining strength on a full body routine. It's 2 sets per body part twice a week with one exercise per body part.

[Amorphic]

no way its possible for me to do full body workouts.

i think its an amateur thing to do, before you realize that your muscle groups need a lot of recovery time, especially if you are strength training.

i do groups split like this:

back/biceps
chest
shoulders/triceps
legs/traps

[Jfew44]

a total body workout is only good for a novice because its a safe and conservative program that will introduce them to resistance training & build a foundatin for strength n muscle tone improvements, but for the advanced they wont benefit as much as if they do a split program

I agree. Younger people just starting to lift should do total body just to get the hang of what lifting is. Same with older people who haven't exercised in awhile.

[shifty_git]

splits for sure...

I used to suffer from chronic fatigue and totally understand how you can over train.. you need to respect ya body,and it will respect you back.

[Mr Tick]

Splits
Chest/sholder/tri
Back Bi
Legs
rotating with Thursdays and Sundays off.

[Drummerboy]

Splits
Chest/sholder/tri
Back Bi
Legs
rotating with Thursdays and Sundays off.

thats my routine right there... cept i do heavy abs on leg day and throw in forearms with back day...

[Amorphic]

Splits
Chest/sholder/tri
Back Bi
Legs
rotating with Thursdays and Sundays off.

shoulders and chest together is a disaster for me. do you find yourself quite exhausted combining those groups?

[Drummerboy]

shoulders and chest together is a disaster for me. do you find yourself quite exhausted combining those groups?

Not me really, cause my dad gave me the gift of genetics for shoulders... i only hit em with 2 sets of military dumbell and 2 sets of side laterals on chest day after chest is done. They grow awsome, considering i smash the front delts on chest day and the rears on back day anyway cause of the heavy compounds i do... Its all individual i think... if you have to really work your shoulders it may be too hard to do on chest day - i dont really need a hefty shoulder day myself...

[taiboxa]

i do resistance training bout once every 4-5 days.. i will do a push/pull workout and then next work out will be legs.. im still gaining and have ample time to do what ever else i need to do.

[Drummerboy]

i do resistance training bout once every 4-5 days.. i will do a push/pull workout and then next work out will be legs.. im still gaining and have ample time to do what ever else i need to do.

wow tai... you can get away with it every 4-5 days? is this while cycling or natural? Id be curious to see your 2 day routine for sure

~DB~

[kman]

shoulders and chest together is a disaster for me. do you find yourself quite exhausted combining those groups?

Same here.. I need 1 day just for shoulders, and prob some abs...

[Mr Tick]

Not really. I dont do much of a incline for chest maby 15 degrees. I do flat then incline then cables. On shoulders they are already a little weak but not to bad. Im still trying to find something really works for me. I like it on a 3 day split 5 times a week because i work each muscle group more in a month then with a 4 day split. Also im not a big guy im only about 170 so maby im not getting all i could be either. Im in the process of getting my diet perfect right now then ill change up my routine if im not makeing the gains i want because i will be able to eliminate the diet out of what could be holding me back.

[taiboxa]

wow tai... you can get away with it every 4-5 days? is this while cycling or natural? Id be curious to see your 2 day routine for sure

~DB~

simple is better... i have always been a preacher of less is more.. when i train 3-5x a week my sessions are only 30min long (bout same as dorian yates) if i lift 1-2x a week i do buot 45min of lifting.. short hard and intense
im always on but i cruise so i run TRT between moderatly dosed cycles now.

upper body day is...
cable flys to warm up.

flat bench 5sets of 225 x failure usually bout 20 reps per set (i kant go heavy i tore pec long ago)

then i do lat pulls pronated grip shoulder width apart. 5 sets of increasing weight

then i do lateral raises 3 sets of 12

then i super set Dips for tri's and Barbell curls for bi's 3 sets of each 8-10reps ea.

leg day i do strongman type of functional strength training w/ sled work and lunges

[Drummerboy]

that sounds solid... im very much more toward less is more... high intensity... i only do 2 heavy sets per excersize, to full failure before rep 7 or 8.. results are amazing. Im training for 45 min - 60 min every other day, sometimes rest for 2 after a hard one!

~DB~

[Nismo]

shoulders and chest together is a disaster for me. do you find yourself quite exhausted combining those groups?

Agreed! I tried that and when it came time to do shoulders after chest... well the hated it. I felt like a 10 year old boy picking up the weights for the first time.

[LB33]

Full body workouts have been the best program i ever tried....I used to always blast my muscles once a week and let them recover..and never really seemed to make good progress on strength ans size..Then i did a cycle of an HST program and i put on 15 pounds over 4 months and most of my lifts went up. I think most people have hard time thinking they can get a good training effect without doing really high volume workouts and blasting a select few muscles...However when you reduce the volume per muscle each workout and resist the tempation to go to failure on exercises you can work them 3 times a week without overtraing...and by the end of the week youve hit all your major muscle groups 3 times instead of hitting them once or twice.. theres also a greater hormonal response when youre doing big compound lifts for the lower body every workout instead of just squating or deadlifting once a week. However, a lifter on steroids would probably benefit from a split type program more since they can do higher volume more intense workouts more often without overtraining...just my 2 cents

[siddy101]

Fullbody didn't workout for me, sure I got the newbie gains and stuff but I really feel a split is more for me so my workout is more customized. But each to there own

[STRONGMAN91]

splits for sure
Back/Bi's/Calves
Chest/Tri's
Legs/Calves
Shoulders/Traps...i lift 5 days a week, rotate bodyparts on the 5th day, all depends on which bodypart i started training on the first day of the week

[RANA]

I love FULL BODY workouts everyday with no rest inbetween days...J/K I will never ever ever do full body workouts, hell I would be in the gym 6-8 hours a day. Shit if I wanted to do FULL BODY workouts I would become a 24hr fitness trainer...