Full body workout vs Split ?

weedspot

Hi,

I’ve been doing a plot routine for 5 months now and I’ve lost 22lbs so far and gained some muscle. I’m around 14-15% BF and felt like it was time to switch things up a little.

So I did my first full body workout today and I intend to do it 3 times a week.

Squats: 3x10
DL: 3x10
Bench Press: 3x10
Bent Over Row: 3x10
Overhead Press: 3x8
Push ups: 3xFailure
Biceps Curl: 4x7-8
Calf Raises: 2x15

Coming from months of focusing on one body part for the entire workout instead of the whole body, I want to know if one exercise per muscle (with 3 sets) is enough for muscle gain ?

Jthanmyfitnesspal

There's a lot to learn about weight training, and I highly recommend getting some group or individual training. Over Zoom, if necessary, although in-person is much better. You can follow YouTube videos and books, but it is possible to get injured, which is pretty counter-productive!

As for full-body vs. muscle group: I would start with full-body a few times a week. Once you get pretty fit, you can do muscle-group-specific workouts. But, you have to lift pretty much daily to get a benefit from muscle group training, and it is trickier than full body workouts, since you generally do more muscle-specific lifts. Here, consulting a trainer is very helpful.

Best of luck!

Speakeasy76

Well, technically you're working that body part 3 times per week, but if you did a body part split you may be working it once a week, but with more exercises on that day. I would definitely recommend looking into it a bit more with the resources here, esp. for someone with experience in body part splits.

I'm a woman, and have done full body workouts 3 days a week (with more glute focus) for quite some time because honestly I have other obligations and hobbies that keep me from going 5 (although I could probably do 4). Right now doing a Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP) program, where I focus on 2 big lifts (one upper, one lower)per month, while still doing 2 other compound lifts and some accessory work. I've already been seeing some nice gains in strength. Except for the 2 main lifts (which I still vary in set/rep scheme), I do 2 other compound exercises for upper and lower body, some add'l lower body accessory work (hamstring/glute and abductor), and I alternate between a tricep/bicep/delt exercise each workout (with one area getting a bit more focus per month), and calf work one day. I've come up with this program by a lot of reading and finding what works for my body.

Maybe some day I'll go to push/pull, upper/lower or body part split, but for now I'm happy with what I'm doing.

Cherimoose

weedspot wrote: »

I want to know if one exercise per muscle (with 3 sets) is enough for muscle gain ?

Yes, 9 sets per muscle group per week can be enough training volume for growth.

By the way, horizontal pushing & pulling sets should be about equal in number, so i would delete the pushups.

cwolfman13

weedspot wrote: »

Hi,

I’ve been doing a plot routine for 5 months now and I’ve lost 22lbs so far and gained some muscle. I’m around 14-15% BF and felt like it was time to switch things up a little.

So I did my first full body workout today and I intend to do it 3 times a week.

Squats: 3x10
DL: 3x10
Bench Press: 3x10
Bent Over Row: 3x10
Overhead Press: 3x8
Push ups: 3xFailure
Biceps Curl: 4x7-8
Calf Raises: 2x15

Coming from months of focusing on one body part for the entire workout instead of the whole body, I want to know if one exercise per muscle (with 3 sets) is enough for muscle gain ?

IMO, full body programs are ideal for beginners in that you're hitting every major muscle group 2-3x per week which is optimal for development. Doing a split that focuses on one body part for the entire workout and only done once per week doesn't really promote much growth...most people you see doing this have already developed their physiques to where they want them to be and hitting everything hard once per week is enough to maintain that...but not particularly optimal for growth.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

I have done both, and I no longer consider it a beginner or advanced decision, but a goals decision. I want to leave plenty of time and energy for swimming, cycling, jogging, hiking, etc. I don't want to spend an hour a day cooped up in a weight room. Thus, the decision is easy: do a quick upper-body resistance workout 2-3 times a week in support of the other activities.

Poobah1972

Back when I was insane... I was definately doing splits, you can't properly train your legs and expect to have enough energy to workout the rest of your body. in other words everything after legs in a day will suffer. But as mentioned above, you really don't have to worry about that as a beginner. Or if your aren't specifically training to build muscle mass with an emphasis on power.

Incidently a proper leg work out for me, mean't I had a very difficult time walking down the stairs of the YMCA gym (which was upstairs) I literally had hold on to the railings as my legs would keep buckling. A proper (as in advanced) leg work should wipe you out and make your sore for days. You really shouldn't be hitting them that hard more then once a week, cause they will take up to that long to recover... Once your more advanced you can hit them twice a weak but that takes time to develop. Ps. getting on and off the toilet was punishing. But were talking about workout to failure with moderate to low rep counts, with a two spotters on squats for instance.

For strength training... 3 days a week is pretty optimal... 1 LEG day, Then I would mix up lower back with say triceps one day, then Upper back with the rest of the arms an say Traps on another day. That way you can really hit all area' s hard and fresh. Then at some point start targeting some core exercises to tie total body strength all together. Turn into a killer! WOO lol

To keep things in perspective ( I was squatting 500lb for reps, benching 380, and handled 2 x 120lb BB presses for 3 sets of 9, and dead lifts of 700lb+ pounds for reps bare handed with no lifting hooks or straps... So that's fairly advanced.) Oh also, It almost made me cry to try and wash my hair in the gym shower after a upper back and arm workout as i could parely reach my head my muscles were so pumped. *the good ole days*.

psychod787

weedspot wrote: »

Hi,

I’ve been doing a plot routine for 5 months now and I’ve lost 22lbs so far and gained some muscle. I’m around 14-15% BF and felt like it was time to switch things up a little.

So I did my first full body workout today and I intend to do it 3 times a week.

Squats: 3x10
DL: 3x10
Bench Press: 3x10
Bent Over Row: 3x10
Overhead Press: 3x8
Push ups: 3xFailure
Biceps Curl: 4x7-8
Calf Raises: 2x15

Coming from months of focusing on one body part for the entire workout instead of the whole body, I want to know if one exercise per muscle (with 3 sets) is enough for muscle gain ?

As long as you are over your minimal effective volume and under your maximal recoverable volume, you can make gains doing either a full body split or upper/lower.