Thoughts on full body splits? Effective?

PlaceboFX
PlaceboFX Posts: 38 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
So I’m a woman, 26, complicated workout history. Off and on for a couple years, but without pushing myself hard enough, or really knowing exactly what I was doing. Started finally hitting it hard beginning of 2020, and then....yeah. Finally got back to it in October, and actually work at my gym as staff and a group fitness instructor. This leaves me with limited time to workout on my own, as I need to allow enough energy for my classes. At the moment I’m doing full body Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with Monday and Friday being about 90 minutes, and Wednesday being about 45 minutes (I have a high intensity class on Thursday and can’t completely wreck my muscles the day before).
I’m seeing progress, but it’s slow of course. Progress is always so slow. But does anyone else do full body splits? I originally started it because of my time constraints, but am finding I actually really like the challenge of them too.

Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,984 Member
    I train the majority of my clients on full body workouts per session. They come no more than 3 times a week with many just 2 times a week.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • ecjim
    ecjim Posts: 1,001 Member
    Agreed with the full body program. The body part split is better suited for an advanced lifter. Your 3 days per week in perfect for that. You want an upperbody push / pull and legs each workout. Look at Strong Curves, Strong Lifts, Grey Skull, Or 531Full Body / for beginners
  • Viking_Dad
    Viking_Dad Posts: 185 Member
    I did a 3x/week full body program (Stronglifts) for quite a long time and didn't see a whole lot of progress.
    I started a 4x/week push, pull, legs program 6 months ago and my strength really took off. It is a much more intense program, though.
  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
    I've been 3 total body strength training sessions for quite some time (taken from Glute Lab, and now have created my own DUP). I do feel I am getting stronger, but perhaps I'd get even stronger and see quicker progress (although probably not at this point in my training?) if I did body part or push/pull splits 4-5 days. However, I just can't really justify that now with my schedule and other out-of-the house-hobbies, esp. with my kids doing remote learning 3 days a week (was 5 days up until a few weeks ago).
  • FitAgainBy55
    FitAgainBy55 Posts: 179 Member
    If you were going to lift every day then you would need to do splits. If you are going to lift 3 to 4 times per week then full body is perfect, in my opinion. I prefer full body sessions because I also like to run, so I alternate days.

    Coincidently, I'm going to switch to splits for the next week so I can workout every day because I'm unlikely to be able to run outside due to this extended snow storm.

    Your routine sounds good to me. Progress is slow with lifting, especially if you are trying to lose weight. While not for everyone, I made the most progress when I shifted to Strong Lifts 5x5 workouts supplemented with a few of my other favorite lifts.

    In my opinion, aside from form, what most people do wrong when lifting is not pushing their reps to fatigue. If your last rep isn't very difficult to complete then you need to either increase reps or increase weight.
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