The full body versus body split routine is a debate that has raged in gyms for decades. The reality is there’s a time and place for both, but there’s one that the vast majority of us should be going for. In this blog post we’re going to look at both types of training, what the science says about each of them and when, why and where to use them properly.

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What is a Split Routine?

A body part split routine is one where the body is divided into different sections and trained individually. This can take many forms. A common 4-day split may look something like this…

  • Monday: Chest and Triceps

  • Tuesday: Back and Biceps

  • Thursday: Legs and Abs

  • Friday: Shoulders and Arms

There’s also variations on this theme, so you can have a push/pull split, where on a push day you’ll perform exercises that require pushing (shoulder press, bench press) and on a pull day, you’ll perform pulling exercises (deadlifts, pull ups etc).

You may also have an upper/lower split, where you’ll train upper body one day, legs the other.

Essentially, the workouts are grouped into exercises around a theme, whether that be body part or movement.

What is a Full Body Routine?

A full body routine is a workout that doesn’t split the body into certain sections and instead, trains the whole thing in every workout. Typically speaking in a full body workout the variation will be around exercises and movements, but the commonality is that the whole body is trained every time.

Generally speaking, in well-designed full body workouts, the movement patterns won’t be repeated too quickly within a week. A good example can be with leg training - if on Monday the major leg exercise was squats, then on Wednesday it may be lunges. This helps to prevent overuse injuries occurring and provides a different stress to the muscles, bringing about extra growth.

How Did Split Routines Gain Popularity?

Modern day bodybuilding and the birth of the gym culture as we know it came around in the 1970’s, when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbo dominated the scene at Golds Gym in California. They were training using body part splits and it became seen as the way to build that kind of physique. What people didn’t realise was…

  • These guys were incredibly genetically gifted

  • They had been training for years, building muscle mass for a couple of decades

  • It was a full-time occupation for them

  • They were taking a LOT of steroids!

  • Training this way took hours - even their cardio was longer than most people’s entire workout!

Copying a training style used by a multiple Mr Universe when you’re a weekend warrior is like revising for a university exam before you’ve even got your GCSE’s. Wrong approach at the wrong time.

The reality is that Arnold had already built a huge amount of muscle by the time his workouts became public. He was merely refining his physique by that point, not building it. Years of general strength training had built his body - his bodybuilding training was merely getting him stage ready.

What Does the Science Say About Split Routines and Full Body Training?

The science is now absolutely clear on building muscle mass - it’s a volume play. By training more muscle, more often, full body training is a more effective way to improve muscle mass. If you want to add muscle to your frame, you should be basing your training around frequent, full body workouts with a wide variety of movements in order to maximise muscle fibre recruitment.

The thinking with split routines is that you train a body part extra hard, then allow it 6 days to recover and grow before training it again. It sounds sensible in theory, but it ignores one of the principles of training - reversibility. The 6 days without training is long enough for the benefits to reverse themselves.

Think about it like this. If you train 4 days per week using the split mentioned at the top of the article, you’re training a body part once per week. If you train 4 days per week using a full body routine, you’ll have trained the same body parts 4 times in the same week. You’re literally stimulating muscle growth FOUR TIMES more frequently than the popular (but uninformed) bodybuilding approach.

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How About Training Intensity?

One of the arguments used by proponents of the split routine approach is that by focussing on one muscle group at a time, they can train it harder and to fatigue more, building more muscle.

Sounds great in theory, but the science doesn’t back it up.

What the science says is that when the signal for muscle to grow has been stimulated, additional stimulation isn’t required. It’s like turning on a light switch - when you’ve pressed the switch and the light is on, you don’t need to keep pressing the switch! It’s not making the room any brighter, no matter how many extra times you press the button.

Is There Ever a Case for Split Routines?

Absolutely. If you’ve built a lot of muscle and are looking to refine your physique, then a split routine can work well. It’s a way to focus on body parts to bring them up to the standards of the rest of your physique. Just don’t rely on it to build your muscle quickly in the first place.

Likewise, if you’ve had an injury and need to pay extra attention to a body part to bring it back to full fitness and function, it can work well again.

It’s not that split routines are bad, it’s just that they’re not as effective as people think.

What Training Split do we Use at AdMac Fitness?

At AdMac Fitness we’re interested in results, so we go with what the science says and use full body training. We squat, we pull, we push, we hinge, we lunge, we carry and a whole host of other things in every session. Train with us and you’ll experience a way of training that delivers fantastic results FAST!

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At AdMac Fitness we’re not about fads, fashions and short term fixes. We want you to succeed properly over the long term, so with our help and advice you can get your fitness back on track! If you’d like us to help you, contact us on 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

AdMac Fitness: Arch 457 Robeson St, London E3 4JA

AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD