Weightlifters, do you do splits? Why?

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ajh2133
ajh2133 Posts: 14 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
There are so many different splits you can do weight lifting, 2-day upper and lower, 6-day each different body part, etc. I am curious what splits do you guys (and gals) do to build muscle? I am looking to gain muscle but also to increase overall fitness (strength, endurance, flexibility, and body comp.). I am currently doing a 4 day split and adding 20 min or so of cardio at the end of my lift session. I also incorporate super sets in my lift sessions. I understand working a particular muscle group once a week provides time to rest but if you look at crossfitters they are ripped and they workout the same muscle group almost every workout. I love circuit type workouts and am interested in why people think one split works better than the other, the benefits of one over the other and what has worked for you all!

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  • kerbeya1
    kerbeya1 Posts: 53 Member
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    I do splits due to the fact that I can't always get to re gym Monday-Friday every week due to work and if I do I get to get a extra lift on a muscle group each week. I also change my splits about each 2-3 months just to change it up. My favorite is the typical back and bi chest and tri and legs and shoulder. But also really like arms one day back and chest then legs.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    edited May 2015
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    I constantly change it up. Splits, supersets, various pyramids, circuits, single muscle splits, all arm days, all leg days, back/chest days, timed sets, pulse sets, all kinds of combinations, you name it and I LOVE all of it. No reason to always do it all one way or another. What makes one ripped is losing body fat.
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
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    In the beginning my trainer had me do the big compound exercises as the core to my workout to build a solid platform.

    I only lifted 2 days a week.

    I did hard high intensity cardio 3 days

    I rested 2 days with what I call just normal low intensity calorie burning walking, not exercise

    That has been the plan for almost 18 months and almost 120 pounds gone

    I do a big compound exercise now and 2 more isolation exercise now to work on specific body area when lifting though.

    But for great legs and booty, it is still squats and two others in the mix.

    Chest is still some bench press variant and two other detail exercises

    Back day is deadlifts and another back and 2 bicep exercises

    As CaliforiaGirl2012 said, less fat makes your muscle look better!

    That HIIT will lean you out if you get to 90% of your heart rate max a few times in the intensity cycles. When sweat is dripping off your elbows... Yeah, you ran the intensity up good

    Ha!
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Nope, not flexible enough.

    (I run 5/3/1 which is basically an upper/lower split, so yes)
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    Yep, I do upper/lower splits four days a week - M,R upper & T,F lower. I do it because I fit my workouts in at lunch break so it needs to be short, and because I don't recover quickly. Doing a full body workout with 4-5 compound lifts in a day is too tiring and the later lifts really suffer.

    Also, doing splits allows me to add in isolation lifts to the compound lifts, and I find they're helpful to address weaknesses in the compound lifts.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,538 Member
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    I typically only hit the gym twice a week, so I do full-body each time, but one session will be heavy upper / light lower while the other is the reverse. Those few weeks I get a third session at the gym I'll focus on whatever lift I feel has been lagging of late or I want to build up.
  • ajh2133
    ajh2133 Posts: 14 Member
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    Cool, thanks for the responses! @californiagirl2012 I am curious, how often do you switch up what you do? Every day? Every week?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    I used to do a 4 day split on 5/3/1, based on the 4 compound lifts and muscle groups. Now I do a four day split with a power day for upper and lower, and then a hypertrophy day for upper and lower. I like this now because I'm trying a recomp and feel I get my power lifting fix, but also have very structured hypertrophy work and am hitting each muscle group twice per week.
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    My training sessions are focused on one or more of the big three. So I'll have bench days, squat days and deadlift days, with at least one day a week being a combo day. How many of each day a week depends on my current training cycle - currently I have 4 bench days, and 2 or 3 each squat and dead days. Back work is split up and spread throughout the week - we have discovered that this what my back responds best to.
  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    Iron_Miss_Canada wrote: »
    My training sessions are focused on one or more of the big three. So I'll have bench days, squat days and deadlift days, with at least one day a week being a combo day. How many of each day a week depends on my current training cycle - currently I have 4 bench days, and 2 or 3 each squat and dead days. Back work is split up and spread throughout the week - we have discovered that this what my back responds best to.

    This sounds very similar to what I do.

    3-4 workouts per week. Squats are a must every workout. Deadlift probably 2 out of every 3.

    I hate the idea of "Leg Day"; I don't understand working your legs to death and then doing nothing for 6 days. I'd rather provide them with consistent stimulus. Consistent, progressive loading...
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    colors_fade wrote: »
    Iron_Miss_Canada wrote: »
    My training sessions are focused on one or more of the big three. So I'll have bench days, squat days and deadlift days, with at least one day a week being a combo day. How many of each day a week depends on my current training cycle - currently I have 4 bench days, and 2 or 3 each squat and dead days. Back work is split up and spread throughout the week - we have discovered that this what my back responds best to.

    This sounds very similar to what I do.

    3-4 workouts per week. Squats are a must every workout. Deadlift probably 2 out of every 3.

    I hate the idea of "Leg Day"; I don't understand working your legs to death and then doing nothing for 6 days. I'd rather provide them with consistent stimulus. Consistent, progressive loading...

    Yeah. My programmer is a genius. His programs work miracles when you commit fully - I'm currently sitting on a 45%, 25kg increase on bench performance in 6 months of working his programs. After only managing to put 10kg into my bench on my own in two years, including a bulk where I should have seen much higher gains.
  • ajh2133
    ajh2133 Posts: 14 Member
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    colors_fade wrote: »
    Iron_Miss_Canada wrote: »
    My training sessions are focused on one or more of the big three. So I'll have bench days, squat days and deadlift days, with at least one day a week being a combo day. How many of each day a week depends on my current training cycle - currently I have 4 bench days, and 2 or 3 each squat and dead days. Back work is split up and spread throughout the week - we have discovered that this what my back responds best to.

    This sounds very similar to what I do.

    3-4 workouts per week. Squats are a must every workout. Deadlift probably 2 out of every 3.

    I hate the idea of "Leg Day"; I don't understand working your legs to death and then doing nothing for 6 days. I'd rather provide them with consistent stimulus. Consistent, progressive loading...

    That sounds like a smart idea. I never really understood only working one muscle group each day, but it's just so popular.
  • 10inprogress
    10inprogress Posts: 89 Member
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    Currently, it's shoulders/biceps/triceps, back/core, leg/glute split 2x's per week and if I can I squeak in an extra glute day, I do! This gives me enough buffer to rest up, but still keep at it. Squats 2-3 times per week is a must or else my legs get sore and lots of compound lifts to keep all the muscles engaged.

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