Bro Split - High Frequency Style

[GearHeaded]

so everyone loves the basic 'bro split' and its been done for decades.

heres what a basic bro split looks like

workout 1 - chest
workout 2 - arms
workout 3 - legs
workout 4 - shoulders
workout 5 - back
repeat


the problem with bro splits is that most average people respond better to higher frequency, ie., doing a body part more then just once per week. mainly because they don't need a whole week to recover a muscle group.
now some genetic freaks that are naturally very strong (like most your pro bodybuilders) do just fine with bro splits.. thats because they generate so much homeostatic stress on chest day, because they are benching 500 pounds and dumbbell inclining 160 dumbbells, that they actually may need an entire week of recovery before hitting chest again . but mot of us are not here.


so I've taken the basis of the bro split and modified it for higher frequency.. your going to use the same bro split as listed above but simply add your frequency exercises in and hit the muscle group you just hit 2 days later on the second half of the main exercise..
heres what I mean

workout 1 - chest (but your going to do chest again 2 days later on workout 3 )
workout 2 - arms (but your doing to do arms again 2 days later on workout 4)
etc. etc...


so this is how it actually looks on paper

Workout 1 - Chest -- shoulders
workout 2 - Arms -- back
workout 3 - Legs -- chest
workout 4 - Shoulders -- arms
workout 5 - Back -- legs



now your first body part of the day is always going to be your heavier compound lifts .. your second body part you train on that same day is going to be your lighter weight isolation work .

so on workout 1 , chest day is the main day . you'll do mainly heavy presses and compound movements .. then that same day when hitting some shoulders you do light weight isolation.
so that day may start with bench press, machine press, dumbbell incline press , and end with side lateral raises, front raises and upright rows.
BUT when you hit chest again 2 days later on your leg day,, those chest movements will all be your lighter weight isolation moves , like pec dec, cable flies, etc.


so in this program your able to do the basics of a bro split, but still hit body parts at least 2x per week rather then once , but provide a good combo of compound and isolation exercises

[JaneDoe]

The Hybrid Split

The Perfect Way to Organize Your Training

by Charles Staley





New lifters like to just decide what to train on any given day "intuitively." Which sounds a lot better than "whatever I happen to pull out of my ass that day."




Well, there's a much better path to success whether you're a new lifter or not. The way in which you organize your weekly training is commonly known as a split. A good training split allows you to train all your muscle groups an optimal number of times per week (2-4 times is just about right for most), spreading the weekly workload into the number of workouts that works best for your needs and goals.




Although many variants are possible, and all are preferable to simply winging it, the three most commonly-used splits are:




1 – The Bro-Split

Most popular among bodybuilders, the bro-split involves devoting each workout to 1-2 muscle groups, such as:




Monday: Back

Tuesday: Chest

Wednesday: Legs

Thursday: Shoulders/Calves

Friday: Biceps/Triceps

Pros

If you're already huge and strong, your muscles will take between 4-6 days to recover from training. Therefore, training each muscle group once a week is likely ideal.

You get to train 5 days a week, which many lifters enjoy.

Many lifters enjoy the idea of dedicating an entire workout to a specific muscle/muscle group.

Cons

The bro split has lots of benefits! Problem is, those benefits are usually offset by a very pesky drawback:




If you're not huge and super-strong, your muscles will take between 1-3 days to recover from training. Therefore training each muscle group once a week is probably not frequent enough, and you'll lose ground between sessions.

2 – The Upper/Lower Split

Most commonly, this involves 4 workouts a week with each session dedicated to upper and lower-body training in alternating succession, like this:




Monday: Upper Body

Tuesday: Lower Body

Thursday: Upper Body

Friday: Lower Body

Pros

For most lifters, training each muscle group twice a week is much more effective than only once.

Many lifters enjoy the ability to give focused attention to a specific body region for an entire workout.

Cons

Twice a week may still be less than optimal, especially for average to smaller guys who aren't yet in the 1200 club (300 bench, 400 squat, 500 deadlift).

3 – The Whole Body Split

People who use this split usually train 3 days a week. Each workout addresses both lower and upper-body muscle groups, although not with the same exercises each workout. Example:




Monday

Front Squat

Incline Dumbbell Press

Back Extension

T Bar Row

Barbell Curl

Pushdown

Wednesday

Leg Press

Dip

RDL

Pull-Up

Standing Calf Raise

Sit-Up

Friday

Lunge

Military Press

Seated Leg Curl

Dumbbell Row

Hammer Curl

French Press

Pros

With the whole-body split, each muscle group gets trained not once, not twice, but three times per week. As mentioned, this is likely ideal (or close to ideal) for most lifters.

If you perform your exercises circuit-style, whole-body sessions provide a superior cardiovascular benefit.

Training three times weekly helps to ensure complete recovery since you'll have four off days per week.

For busy lifters with limited time, training three days a week may be more practical than higher frequencies.

Cons

While whole-body workouts allow for higher training frequencies, the total amount of focused work per muscle group is somewhat limited compared to bro splits and upper/lower splits.

Some folks simply enjoy the gym, and feel deprived if they only go three times per week. Now some of my harder-core colleagues are already thinking, "Do what you need, not what you like!" But as an experienced coach, I've learned the value of accommodating people's individual preferences for motivation and compliance.

Workout

The Hybrid Split

There is a way to capitalize on the benefits and minimize the downsides of the latter two splits outlined above. I call it the "hybrid" split, and it might be as close to perfection as you're ever going to find.




The hybrid split incorporates both whole-body days as well as upper and lower days into a 4-day training week. Here's how it looks:




Monday: Whole-Body

Front Squat

Incline Dumbbell Press

Loaded Back Extension

Weighted Pull-Up

Hammer Curl

Lying Tricep Extension

Wednesday: Whole-Body

Leg Press

Dip

Romanian Deadlift

T Bar Row

Barbell Curl

Pushdown

Friday: Lower-Body

Back Squat

Hip Thrust

Split Squat

Seated Leg Curl

Saturday: Upper-Body

Weighted Push-Up

Chin-Up

Military Press

Low Cable Curl

When you first test-drive this split, you'll notice several benefits right off the bat.




You'll train four days a week. While this isn't ideal for everyone, if you find three workouts too few and five too many, the hybrid split will feel just right.

You'll constantly switch between whole-body, lower-body, and upper-body sessions. Lots of variety to keep things interesting.

You'll enjoy the ability to train "globally" twice a week while also benefiting from those super-focused lower and upper-body sessions that upper-lower splits provide.

Tips & Troubleshooting

The Friday session can be either lower or upper body. Whichever you choose, do the opposite region on Saturday.

Select exercises and rep-brackets based on training goal. For strength, prioritize lower reps on the exercise(s) you want to get stronger. For hypertrophy, opt for higher (8-12) reps on movements that are well-suited for muscle development (compound exercises that allow you to move relatively large loads over relatively large ranges of motion should be prioritized).

Distribute your total weekly number of sets per muscle over the four training sessions in whatever way that best facilitates the total volume you intend to accomplish. This often translates to (relatively) more sets done on Friday and Saturday, and slightly less on Monday and Wednesday. So taking chest just as an example, you might do 3-4 working sets on Monday and Wednesday, and 5-6 sets on Saturday.

Even if you love the hybrid split, I wouldn't necessarily use it exclusively, ad infinitum. Regular alteration of training variables (including split design) helps to stave off adaptive resistance, so if and when training is feeling flat, switch to whole-body, upper-lower, or even bro-splits periodically.

If you're intrigued by the hybrid split but doubt that you can recover from four weekly sessions, remember that you can modify volume accordingly by limiting the number of sets you perform each workout.

[GearHeaded]

the problem with hybrid split or full body splits is this -- its difficult to set the split up over a period of a week and be able to achieve the quality working sets needed per body part.

so if over a weeks time you have 4 workouts total, two full body and one lower body and one upper body, its going to be difficult to get in quality working sets for each body part of that weeks time. your going to be short changing certain body parts.

example - on your first whole body workout your doing , Squats, deadlifts, leg press, shoulder press, hammer curls, tricep pushdowns, incline bench press, flies, weight pull ups, bent over rows..

by time you get to the pull ups and bent over rows, your volume and intensity for your back is just going to be junk volume.. your quality working sets likely came on the squats and leg press . so even though the workout calls for full body , the quality of the sets are not going to be equal across the full body. your going to be neglecting your back.

on average a person who is decently trained can manage about 6-10 quality working sets per workout. so calculate that over your full body workout, this means in that workout each body part is getting 1 or maybe 2 working sets and thats it. and again whatever body part you put last in your workout the quality of those working sets will likely be lacking.

so to make this work, your going to have to not have a 'fixed split' that looks the same every week.. some weeks your going to have to start with legs on your full body days and end with back, and other days start with back end with legs . etc..


I think the hybrid split and full body splits can work great for a lot of people though . I just don't think it works well for hardcore lifters, because of my point above about the intensity dropping off and losing out on quality workout sets .. but your average person does not workout with enough intensity that it really matters anyhow. in fact most the volume a lot of guys do is "junk volume" anyhow.
but if your a serious hardcore and high intensity lifter , full body splits are going to be very difficult imo

saying that, I have lots of clients on full body type routines .. but keep in mind I also have lots of 'soccer moms' and average lifter clients as well