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Full body vs. split

post #1 of 49
2/12/11 at 2:53pm
Thread Starter 
So, I have been working out for a few months, Im about 13% BF and have been doing a fully body workout. I heard that unless a person is already super fit that they shouldn't do a split routine. Is this the case or what? Hope someone can shed some light on this.
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post #2 of 49
2/12/11 at 3:22pm
It would take me about 4 hours to do a full body so I do a split. Why would you have to be really fit to do a split work out?
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post #3 of 49
2/12/11 at 8:56pm
it would not take 4 hours to do full body... check out strong lifts or starting strength, you can get quite fit in about an hour of going to the gym doing compund lifts that focus on major muscle groups. This along with a good diet can easily be all you need to do to get started on losing some body fat and building some muscle. Seriously, doing bicep curls doesn't mean you're fit, it just means you're spending 15 minutes working on training a few muscles when you could easily be doing an exercise which does that and more.
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post #4 of 49
2/12/11 at 9:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by danilo View Post
it would not take 4 hours to do full body... check out strong lifts or starting strength, you can get quite fit in about an hour of going to the gym doing compund lifts that focus on major muscle groups. This along with a good diet can easily be all you need to do to get started on losing some body fat and building some muscle. Seriously, doing bicep curls doesn't mean you're fit, it just means you're spending 15 minutes working on training a few muscles when you could easily be doing an exercise which does that and more.
I've read starting strength, I don't need all that beginning fitness advice. An hour at the gym is nothing and isolation movements do have a purpose, my arms don't really get all the fatigued from doing deads and over head press, which is why I do 1 set of isolations exercises for my arms. This is 1 half of the split, that and warm up sets could easily take 2 hours. 5X5 power cleans 5x5 dumb bell over head press 5x5 skull crushers 5x5 bench press 5x5 weighted dips 5x5 close grip bench 5x5 shrugs
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post #5 of 49
2/12/11 at 10:29pm
If you want to do a split, try a push/pull split or upper/lower split.
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post #6 of 49
2/12/11 at 10:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by East2West View Post
If you want to do a split, try a push/pull split or upper/lower split.

This.

....or full body.

I prefer full body and can easily get out of the gym in under 1.5hrs.
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post #7 of 49
2/13/11 at 7:30am
I would say you could easily go for a split program.

Full body is good for those who can only workout 2 times a week or so, and beginners.

Once your muscles are getting used to the increased physical activity, and provided you can workout 4-5 times a week, there is no reason not to go split. Instead of using lets say 2 hours daily on various exercises, you can use the 2 hours to focus properly on individual muscles.

Hope it helped.
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post #8 of 49
2/14/11 at 2:42am
Split routines are for those who do not have enough recovery time between workouts to work the same muscle groups.

If you are lifting where you have enough recovery time between workouts to work the same muscle groups, then you aren't lifting heavy enough.

Go split, lift heavier.
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post #9 of 49
2/14/11 at 2:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLay87 View Post
Split routines are for those who do not have enough recovery time between workouts to work the same muscle groups. If you are lifting where you have enough recovery time between workouts to work the same muscle groups, then you aren't lifting heavy enough. Go split, lift heavier.
I concur. To maximize results, you'll want to completely workout a muscle, such that it needs about a week to fully recover. For instance, I do back and biceps on Monday, legs on Wednesday, and chest and shoulders on Friday.
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post #10 of 49
2/14/11 at 3:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by racermd View Post
I concur. To maximize results, you'll want to completely workout a muscle, such that it needs about a week to fully recover. For instance, I do back and biceps on Monday, legs on Wednesday, and chest and shoulders on Friday.
I switch between 3 different weeks but the only real difference is different workouts working same muscle groups. Here's 1 week's lifting schedule: Monday Incline Smith Bench 3x16-20rp Incline Hammer Bench 1x20 Machine Abs 2x15 Tuesday Barbell Curl 3x20-30rp PinWheel Curl 1x15 Preacher Curl 1x20 Wednesday Squat 1x10, 1x6 Leg Press 1x20 Machine Abs 1x10-20 Thursday Hammer Shoulder 3x20-30rp Lat Raise Machine 1x20 Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Press 3x16-20rp Tricep Dip Machine 1x20 Friday Seated Leg Curls 3x16-20rp Adductor Machine 3x20-30rp Machine Abs 2x15 Saturday Lat Pull Down Machine 3x16-20rp Cable Lat Pull Down 1x20 Smith Machine Row 1x10, 1x6 RP means rest paused, which means you go to failure on each set, after 3 sets the total reps should be around what's listed here. This means that I'm working to failure pretty much every time I lift, which is why whole body is simply impossible. Lift heavy, do split.
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post #11 of 49
2/14/11 at 3:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fuji View Post
I've read starting strength, I don't need all that beginning fitness advice. An hour at the gym is nothing and isolation movements do have a purpose, my arms don't really get all the fatigued from doing deads and over head press, which is why I do 1 set of isolations exercises for my arms.

This is 1 half of the split, that and warm up sets could easily take 2 hours.

5X5 power cleans
5x5 dumb bell over head press
5x5 skull crushers
5x5 bench press
5x5 weighted dips
5x5 close grip bench
5x5 shrugs

well of course if you combine what you normally do for split exercises into a full body workout it'll take hours.

not really sure if an hour in the gym is nothing. not saying this is what you do, but if you're taking long breaks and lifting @ 30% of your 1rm, then an hour isn't a challenge. in my book, 2-3 big movements at a high percentage for 5x5 + some accessory work in 1-1.5 hrs is a solid workout.
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post #12 of 49
2/14/11 at 4:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fuji View Post
I've read starting strength, I don't need all that beginning fitness advice.

Big mistake a beginner makes is thinking they are an intermediate.
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post #13 of 49
2/14/11 at 4:33am
I'm a middle aged guy with a family and a job. I do full body, and I am out in less than an hour. not going to get huge or pretty anything fancy, but you can get a pretty good workout for a normal person in an hour. I lift weights on day a week, swim one, jog one, yoga one. then I box a few times a week. but strength I do just the one hour (well, I do kettle bells a few times a week, too, but only once to the weight room). I do 6 exercises, 8-10 reps, 3 sets.
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post #14 of 49
2/14/11 at 8:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeman View Post
So, I have been working out for a few months, Im about 13% BF and have been doing a fully body workout. I heard that unless a person is already super fit that they shouldn't do a split routine. Is this the case or what? Hope someone can shed some light on this.
If you've already been at it with good form for a couple of months, I'd say you're ready for split. My cycle is spread throughout the week: Day 1: back/triceps Day 2: chest/biceps Day 3: legs/shoulders Cardio and abs mixed in or on in-between days. Put primary focus on the compound moves (push-ups or bench, chin-ups, squats). You'll be lifting more weight, so make sure you maintain proper form to get gains and avoid injury. Every 6 weeks mix things up a bit to maintain sufficient muscle confusion. Good luck.
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post #15 of 49
2/14/11 at 8:28pm
If you can't bench 200 and don't have at least a year or two of training under your belt, don't consider yourself anything else but a beginner. Keep it simple, a beginner strength routine (3x5,5x5,SPBR,..) will be useful for a long long time.
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