Full body vs. split routines?

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Full Body vs. Split Routines

The comparison between full body workouts and split routines hinges on multiple factors, including the goals, experience level, and availability of the individual. Experts from the provide several insights into these two approaches:

Full Body Workouts

  1. Systemic Muscle Growth: Training the entire body in one session can lead to better systemic muscle growth and overall strength gains. This is because a full body workout sends a louder overall muscle-building anabolic signal to the central nervous system 1.

  2. Consistency and Forgiveness: Full body workouts are more forgiving if you miss a session. For instance, if you do three full body workouts a week and miss one, you still hit your entire body twice in that week. This helps maintain consistency and avoid repeatedly missing specific body parts 2 3.

    Full Body Benefits

    Sal and Justin discuss the benefits of full-body workouts over split routines, emphasizing how training the entire body in one session can lead to systemic muscle growth and overall strength gains. They highlight the importance of exercise selection and the systemic effects of working different muscle groups in a single session.
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  3. Effective Exercise Selection: With full body routines, you're likely to choose the most impactful exercises for each session, like squats and bench presses, ensuring high-quality workouts 4 1.

  4. Frequency and Adaptation: Full body workouts allow more frequent engagement of each muscle group. This repeated stimulus promotes better muscle adaptation and growth compared to hitting each muscle group once a week, which is common in split routines 4 2.

Split Routines

  1. Complex Programming: Split routines require more understanding and careful programming to manage recovery and avoid overtraining specific muscle groups. For example, deciding when to include compound lifts like deadlifts and squats without hampering recovery for subsequent workouts is crucial 5.

  2. Muscle Pump and Hypertrophy: Split routines might be preferable for those aiming to maximize muscle pump and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. By dedicating entire sessions to specific muscle groups, individuals can achieve a significant muscle pump, which contributes to muscle growth 6 3.

  3. Advanced Techniques: For advanced lifters, split routines can provide the necessary volume and intensity for continued progress. However, they require a more intricate understanding of body mechanics and recovery 4.

Summary

Overall, full body workouts are generally recommended for most people, particularly beginners and those with inconsistent schedules. They offer better systemic growth, consistency, and simplicity in exercise selection. Split routines, while effective for advanced lifters aiming to maximize muscle hypertrophy, require careful programming and dedication to avoid imbalances and overtraining 1 3 4.

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